A Washington think tank is asking the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency to launch an inquiry into whether the U.S. Department of Education’s inspector general was “overzealous or abused power” in conducting a review of the federal Reading First program.
John P. Higgins Jr. released a series of highly critical reports on the program in 2006 and 2007, which led to two congressional hearings on the matter and a 61 percent cut to the program’s budget for fiscal 2008.
In a March 10 letter to the council, the Washington-based Thomas B. Fordham Foundation suggests that the review was launched without a compelling need, and overstated problems with Reading First’s administration.
For background, previous stories, and Web links, read Reading.
