Return-Path: <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id h4GKjUC21447; Fri, 16 May 2003 16:45:30 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 16:45:30 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <B24038C0D3E160419E320030D92C22DED66A23@hobbes.cal.org> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Lynda Terrill" <lterrill@cal.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:8988] FW: [AAACE-NLA]NIFL listservs , free expression, and nonprofit organizations X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 4507 Lines: 99 Dear NIFL-ESL, In response to Andre's note, here is a cross-posting from some of the other lists. Lynda Terrill NIFL-ESL moderator National Center for ESL Literacy Education 4646 40th Street NW Washington DC 20016-1859 tel (202) 362-0700 ext. 243 fax(202) 363-7204 LTerrill@cal.org http://www.cal.org/ncle -----Original Message----- From: Gail Spangenberg [mailto:gspangenberg@caalusa.org] Sent: Friday, May 16, 2003 3:35 PM To: nifl-povracelit@nifl.gov; aaace-nla@lists.literacytent.org; nifl-womenlit@nifl.gov Subject: [AAACE-NLA]NIFL listservs , free expression, and nonprofit organizations Janet, Hal, and other Colleagues -- I have done a fair amount of investigating on the matter of listserv "purging," notably the government-sponsored NIFL listservs. I hope that this posting will contribute to a better understanding. By now, we all know that messages deemed to contain political advocacy have been removed from archives of the NIFL listservs, and that messages containing certain words and phrases are being automatically blocked. I do not want to cause problems for people who have been working hard behind the scenes to try and solve this problem but I think I can share enough information without betraying confidences to shed some light on why this has happened and enable you to form your own judgments. Apparently, according to what a number of people have told me, Robert Sweet, an influential Hill staffer, has challenged both NIFL and the Department of Education on what he sees as excessive "political advocacy" on the NIFL listservs. That challenge has been made with sufficient vigor that lawyers are presently attempting to sort out the issues. (For those of you who don't know, Mr. Sweet was a key person in the drafting of the No Child Left Behind legislation. He was president and founder of the phonics/reading advocacy organization, The National Right to Read Foundation. He was, by many accounts, a principal force in the attempts to radically change the mission of NIFL from a focus on adult basic skills in the WIA reauthorization to a focus exclusively on reading, primarily aimed at children. He is said to be an active aspirant to the permanent directorship of NIFL.) Many of us would take issue with Mr. Sweet's philosophy, operating style, and his work in the House. But there is a central point in all of this that we need to keep in mind. Government-sponsored programs are not permitted under the law to be used as communications devices for political advocacy. It is unclear, even to many lawyers, exactly how this prohibition should be interpreted in particular cases. I don't think that the legal issues regarding what should be permitted on NIFL listservs will be resolved very soon. But here are a few practical thoughts about the current situation. Perhaps NIFL listserv moderators can ask for very clear guidelines on what is presently permissible on the government listservs and what isn't. These guidelines might be made openly available to the field and to listserv subscribers, and the moderators themselves might take responsibility for applying the rules that everyone will hold in common. That way, we would at least know who is doing what and why, and we would all be playing by the same set of rules (or choosing not to play) on the basis of clear and open communications. Another thought: The NLA listserv has protected its archives and open posting by shifting over to AAACE, and the Coalition for Literacy listserv did this by being taken in temporarily by ProLiteracy, both achieved with the cooperation and active help of NIFL. I think that the operation of listservs is an important NIFLservice, and ought to be retained as such, but it occurs to me there may be forms and homes for a different listserv that can be set up elsewhere and operate with complete independence from government. In the meantime, let's hope that the legal issues raised by Mr. Sweet regarding the NIFL listservs will be resolved by competent authorities as soon as possible. -- Gail Spangenberg President Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy 1221 Avenue of the Americas - 50th Floor New York, NY 10020 212-512-2362, fax 212-512-2610 _______________________________________________ AAACE-NLA mailing list: AAACE-NLA@lists.literacytent.org http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/aaace-nla LiteracyTent: web hosting, news, community and goodies for literacy http://literacytent.org
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