Is pay-off a political punching bag?

Weeks after it was revealed the U.S. Department of Education paid a political pundit to talk up the No Child Left Behind law, errors in judgment have been acknowledge but the debate continues.

Congress is investigating the $240,000 contract with conservative commentator Armstrong Williams, who has admitted the deal was a mistake, and the Federal Communications Commission is investigating whether Williams broke the law by failing to disclose that the education department paid him to support education programs, particularly NCLB, to Williams' mainly minority audience members.

Former Education Secretary Rod Paige had stated that hiring outside experts to help communicate a complex issue is "standard practice in all sectors of our society."

But new Education Secretary Margaret Spellings acknowledged in February the "errors of judgment" by the Bush Administration and vowed to investigate. President Bush also acknowledged that federal agencies should stop awarding contracts to outside commentators.

The department, through a contract with public relations firm, Ketchum, Inc., reportedly hired Williams to produce and show television and radio ads in which Paige described the law and encouraged the audience to call the department's information line.

"All of this has been reviewed and is legal. However, I am sorry that there are perceptions and allegations of ethical lapses," Paige had stated.

But others in the education field believe ethical lapses did occur, adding the situation fuels public distrust.

Ross Weiner, policy director of The Education Trust, called the education department's payoff to hype NCLB "bad judgment", "a misuse of funds," and "tawdry PR tricks." He adds the money could have been more effectively used to support community-based organizations to foster more parental involvement in education. "Worse still, USDOE has had the audacity to defend its bad decision instead of simply admitting the mistake and moving on to the important business of addressing the many shortcomings of its NCLB implementation efforts," Weiner says in a written statement. "The real shame is that NCLB could win strong public support on its merits."

Barbara Knisely, a spokeswoman for the American Association of School Administrators, adds that while the association hasn't heard comments from its members, the ethical question goes both ways, on the part of Williams to accept money and not expose that, as well as the DOE. She adds that superintendents are held to the highest ethical behavior. "The government trying to sell information to the people doesn't seem to work well in our democratic system," Knisely says.