[NLA] but wait, there's more--USDE web site

Tue Nov 26 12:56:36 EST 2002

Debbie:

The whole thing--about changing available educational
materials to fit the "administrations' priorities"--sounds
to me like someone--at the highest levels of our
government?--has confused "liberal education"
with a "liberal party plank," as if openness to information
in education--ALL information--were some sort of
democratic party ideal that is essentially opposed to
the tenets of the republican party?

Ahem. . .if this is true, speaking of education . . . ?

Catherine King

----- Original Message -----
From: Debbie Yoho <dwyoho at earthlink.net>
To: <nla at lists.literacytent.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 8:14 AM
Subject: Re: [NLA] but wait, there's more--USDE web site

>
> Regarding:
>
> EDUCATION RESEARCHERS, social scientists, and library
> > representatives have charged that the Education Department is
> > preparing to delete information from its Web site, in part,
> > because the material does not reflect the philosophies of the
> > Bush administration.
>
> Before I get too excited, does anyone--Jon--know if this is unusual?  I
> would think that eventually all administrations get around to reshaping
> public information to "fit philosophies". I'm interested to see what
> results, as testimony to those philosophies, but I routinely expect
> anything from the DOE to carry with it the biases of the respective
> administration.  Debbie
>
>
> Deborah W. Yoho
> Co-moderator, NIFL-Health Listserv
> President, SC Adult Literacy Educators
> Executive Director, Greater Columbia Literacy Council
> 2728 Devine Street,  Columbia, SC  29205
> 803-765-2555   Fax  803-779-8417   dwyoho at earthlink.net
>
>
> > [Original Message]
> > From: George E. Demetrion <sophocles5 at juno.com>
> > To: <nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> > Date: 11/25/2002 9:34:02 PM
> > Subject: Re: [NLA] but wait, there's more--USDE web site
> >
> > On Mon, 25 Nov 2002 07:55:08 -0500 mev at litwomen.org <mev at litwomen.org>
> > writes:
> > > From the Chronicle of Higher education
> > >
> > >*  EDUCATION RESEARCHERS, social scientists, and library
> > >    representatives have charged that the Education Department is
> > >    preparing to delete information from its Web site, in part,
> > >    because the material does not reflect the philosophies of the
> > >    Bush administration. More than a dozen groups expressed their
> > >    concerns in a letter sent to the secretary of education last
> > >    week.
> > >    --> SEE http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/11/2002112501n.htm
> > >
> > Thanks for posting this Mev.
> >
> > Yesterday I went to the AERA (American Educational Research Association
> > web site and found two interesting things.  The first is the latest
> > edition of the AERA journal which has devoted its entire edition to
> > scientific based educational research.  The articles can be downloaded
at
> >  (http://www.aera.net/pubs/er/eronline.htm)  Currently (today) access to
> > these articles or the entire AERA website is unavailable.
> >
> > More importantly at least in regard to your posting, Mev, is the
> > following Action Alert about the USDE internal memo that refers to the
> > Department's web site policy.  Also included in what follows is the
> > letter to Secretary Paige.  Rather than comment at this time, I'll
simply
> > post the information which then may evoke commentary from others.
Because
> > I had to format this data to my juno address, some of the original
> > formatting of the message has been lost.
> >
> > George Demetrion
> > Sophocles5 at juno.com
> > _________________________________________________________________
> >
> > ACTION ALERT
> > ED Web Information Disappearing
> >
> > Background Information
> >
> > The U.S. Department of Education (ED) issued an internal memo, Criteria
> > and Process for Removing Old Content from www.ed.gov" on May 31, 2002.
> > The memo established Criteria for Keeping Information on the Web dated
> > prior to February 2001. One concern cited as reason for removal was that
> > some content runs counter to current Administration priorities.  Later
in
> > the memo this reason was reiterated in the section under "Current
> > Challenges," which states "Content is either outdated or does not
reflect
> > the priorities, philosophies, or goals of the present administration."
> >
> > Items would be removed unless they meet the following criteria: needed
> > for legal reasons; supports Administration priorities and initiatives;
> > important for historical perspectives; important for policy reasons
> > identified by an Assistant Secretary; or useful or valuable to parents,
> > students, or educators and is consistent with the Administration's
> > philosophy. There have been estimates that as many as 13,000 documents
of
> > the more than 50,000 total on the Web site would be in jeopardy due to
> > their content. In addition, others deemed outdated  would also have no
> > links under the plan.
> >
> > It appears the web information removal activities are occurring
> > throughout the federal system. On October 21, a group of 12 House
Members
> > sent a letter to Secretary Tommy Thompson, U.S. Department of Health and
> > Human Services, identifying a pattern of events at the Department of
> > Health and Human Services suggesting that scientific decision-making is
> > being subverted by ideology and that scientific information that does
not
> > fit the Administration's political agenda is being suppressed &
> > Scientific information that does not serve the Administration's
> > ideological agenda is being removed from HHS websites. Health issues
> > involved include abortion, programs addressing risky behavior in youth,
> > and contraception. Other federal government Web sites are reported to be
> > facing similar problems.
> >
> > Action Taken
> > AERA has joined with the American Library Association to lead an effort
> > to retain documents on the ED Web site. A letter, signed by 14 national
> > organizations, has been sent to Education Secretary Rod Paige requesting
> > all ED materials retain the level of accessibility now available and
> > advocating the inclusion of stakeholders in the web revamping process.
> > Following is the letter sent to Secretary Paige:
> >
> > The Honorable Rod Paige
> > Secretary of Education
> > U.S. Department of Education
> > 400 Maryland Avenue, SW
> > Washington, DC 20202
> >
> > Dear Secretary Paige:
> >
> > We are writing to express the concerns of our organizations about the
> > recently reported initiative within the U. S. Department of Education
> > (ED) to remove from public access information that "does not reflect the
> > priorities, philosophies, or goals of the present administration." While
> > the Department is aware of the problems such a move would create, the
> > steps it has recently suggested to address these problems still fall
> > short because archived material would clearly not be as accessible.
> >
> > We recognize that the Department may reorganize its Web site, and we
> > applaud your attempts to improve the transparency of this site so that
> > the public can find information more easily. However, the Department's
> > announced initiative to remove documents has raised significant concerns
> > and questions among the library, educational research, and related
social
> > science communities, and we would value and appreciate a response.
> >
> > One of our primary concerns centers on the fate of information scheduled
> > to be removed from your publicly accessible Web site. As you are aware,
> > information created or collected by the government, whether in tangible
> > or electronic form, is a federal record. Therefore, we would like to
know
> > what steps the Department is taking to preserve information and provide
> > the easiest possible permanent public access to any materials that are
> > removed? Because the Internet has become by far the method of choice for
> > disseminating information and research data widely and efficiently, we
> > are concerned about efforts that would diminish access and use of these
> > records.
> > .
> > Secondly, we are equally concerned with any actions that would remove
> > from access research, data, and other digests of information that
> > otherwise have been publicly available, irrespective of administrations,
> > by the Department of Education. Such materials are essential to
advancing
> > scientifically-based research and need to remain accessible to the
> > library, educational research, and related scholarly communities. For
> > example, we are uncertain about ongoing access to materials in the
> > Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) on the Department of
> > Education Web site. Will a link to the ERIC site be established and
> > maintained on the Department's site? Will it be visible to experienced
> > and new researchers who can add knowledge and insights analyzing such
> > information?
> >
> > Finally, we are concerned about the role of educational researchers,
> > related social and behavioral scientists, librarians, those with
> > expertise in data dissemination and preservation, and other public
> > stakeholders in the development of any plan to access materials on the
> > Department Web site. Information available through the U. S. Department
> > of Education Web site is used by a wide variety of professionals,
> > including educators, scholars, public decision makers, and the public
> > more broadly, and they should be consulted throughout this process. We
> > urge you to hold meetings with them and listen to their concerns and
> > ideas.
> >
> > Members of our associations appreciate your attention to this important
> > matter. We, as well as the general public, need Internet access to the
> > research, data, reports, and other digests and information that may be
> > removed from the Department's Web site. We would appreciate hearing what
> > steps the Department intends to take to ensure ongoing access to
> > documents scheduled to be removed.
> >
> > Action Requested
> > If you wish to support AERA in its effort to retain ED Web site
documents
> > in the most accessible form, please write to Secretary Rod Paige and
send
> > copies of your letter to members of Congress in your state and AERA.
> >
> > Letters may be addressed to:
> > The Honorable Rod Paige
> > Secretary of Education
> > U.S. Department of Education
> > 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Room 7W301
> > Washington DC 20202
> >
> > If you have questions or would like additional information, please feel
> > free to contact Felice J. Levine, AERA Executive Director, (202)
> > 223-9485, ext. 122, flevine at aera.net or Sandi Wurtz, Government
Relations
> > Associate at AERA, (202) 223-9485, ext. 103, swurtz at aera.net .
> > To read the related news release, go to
http://www.aera.net/communication
> > s/news/021121.htm
> >
> >
> > ________________________________________________________________
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> > Visit www.juno.com
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