October 6, 2002
Dept. of Education Website's Sudden Remake
Washington Bureau

     WASHINGTON DC -- Education Web site is up for overhaul to fit Bush philosophy The U.S. Department of Education's Web site will be revamped to bring the content in line with the Bush administration's philosophy, according to a Sept. 18 report by Education Week.
The U.S. Department of Education will unveil an updated Web site this fall. That update reportedly entails removing thousands of pages -- many of which are dated or inactive.
     However, many the pages will be removed for another reason: because they do not "reflect the priorities, philosophies, or goals of the present administration," according to a May 31 directive obtained by Education Week. The periodical reported that, according to the directive, everything on the site dated before Bush took office in January 2001 will be removed unless it supports current administration initiatives.
     The Department of Education will nevertheless, still be required to keep certain Clinton-era information on its site. According to the 1996 Electronic Freedom of Information Act, documents that are likely to "become the subject of subsequent [FOI] requests," must be maintained on the government Web site. Records on a "popular topic," should be kept in the government's electronic reading room.
     The Department of Education currently keeps its electronic reading room available to the public on the Web. The Department of Education had a good track record in complying with the Electronic FOI Act under Clinton, according to a 1999 study done by OMB Watch, a group that monitors issues of access to the federal government. The Department of Education did not return repeated calls and could not be reached for comment.

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