B-304228, Department of Education--No Child Left Behind Act Video News Release and Media Analysis, September 30, 2005

B-304228 Sep 30, 2005 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Congress requested GAO's opinion on the Department of Education's use of appropriated funds to hire Ketchum, Inc., to conduct a media analysis and to produce and distribute a video news release regarding programs available under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Congress asked whether these activities violated the governmentwide prohibition against using appropriated funds for publicity or propaganda not authorized by Congress. View Decision B-304228, Department of Education--No Child Left Behind Act Video News Release and Media Analysis, September 30, 2005 B-304228 September 30, 2005 The Honorable Frank R. Lautenberg United States Senate The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy United States Senate Subject: Department of Education—No Child Left Behind Act Video News Release and Media Analysis In a letter dated October 14, 2004, you requested our opinion on the Department of Education's (Department) use of appropriated funds to hire Ketchum, Inc. (Ketchum), to conduct a media analysis and to produce and distribute a video news release (VNR) regarding programs available under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425 (Jan. 8, 2002)(NCLB Act). You asked whether these activities violated the governmentwide prohibition against using appropriated funds for publicity or propaganda not authorized by Congress. See Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004, Pub. L. No. 108-199, div. F, title VI, sect. 624, 118 Stat. 3, 356 (Jan. 23, 2004); Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-7, div. J, title VI, sect. 626, 117 Stat. 470 (Feb. 20, 2003). We have applied the publicity or propaganda prohibition to forbid the use of appropriations for (1) covert propaganda, (2) purely partisan activities, or (3) self-aggrandizing activities. B-302504, Mar. 10, 2004. The VNR on supplemental education services under the NCLB Act at issue here contains a prepackaged news story that fails to identify the Department as the source of the news story. See id. Because the Department's role in the production and distribution of the prepackaged news story is not revealed to the target audience, the prepackaged news story constitutes covert propaganda. We disagree with the Department's contention that the prepackaged news stories are not covert propaganda because they contain only factual information. To constitute a legitimate information dissemination activity that does not violate the publicity or propaganda prohibition, the Department must inform the viewing public that the government is the source of the information disseminated.[1] With respect to the media analysis, the Department directed Ketchum to assess whether its messages were reaching target audiences and were being mentioned in a positive way. While we question the usefulness of the Department's methodology in achieving its stated objective, we recognize that a media analysis similar to the one conducted by the Department is within its authority. As part of this media analysis, however, Ketchum evaluated the media perception that the –Bush Administration/the GOP is committed to education.— Appropriated funds are not available to evaluate the Republican Party's (or any other political party's) commitment to education, and the Department should take appropriate steps to ensure that no such use of its appropriations occurs in the future. BACKGROUND On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed into law the NCLB Act, with the stated purpose –to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind.— Pub. L. No. 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425 (Jan. 8, 2002). In addition to reauthorizing funding for education programs, the Act establishes new testing and accountability requirements for public schools designed to ensure that public school students achieve a level of proficiency in reading and mathematics. See Pub. L. No. 107'110, title I, sect. 1001, 115 Stat. at 1439-40. The Act authorizes, among other things, federal funding for supplemental educational services directed at assisting economically disadvantaged schools and their students. See Pub. L. No. 107-110, title I, pt. A, sect. 1116, 115 Stat. 1478 (codified in 20 U.S.C. sect. 6316). These supplemental services are available to eligible students of schools identified by local agencies as failing to make adequate yearly progress as identified by each state's plan for three consecutive years. 20 U.S.C. sect. 6316(e)(1). In addition to establishing requirements for identification by local education agencies, 20 U.S.C. sect. 6316(b)(1), the Act requires that school districts provide parents with appropriate notice of the availability of supplemental educational services, among other information, 20 U.S.C. sect.