UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT 

Regulatory Information Management Services

October 31, 2008 

U.S. Department of Education FOIA e-Reading Room Certification 

 On May 30, 2008, the Attorney General issued his third Report to the President 

pursuant to Executive Order 13,392. This Attorney General Report is based on the 

Fiscal Year 2007 Annual FOIA Reports that agencies submitted earlier this year and 

provides an update on the agencies implementation of the FOIA and of their FOIA 

Improvement Plans. In accordance with Section 4(a) of the Executive Order, the 

Attorney General’s Report includes recommendations for improving agency FOIA 

administration. The third recommendation requires each agency Chief FOIA Officer to 

conduct a review of their agency’s FOIA Reading Room(s); to address any deficiencies 

in its content; and then to certify to the Department of Justice and OMB that its Reading 

Room is in compliance with the requirements of the FOIA. 

 As described in the Attorney General’s Report, the Department of Justice has 

been actively engaged in a series of steps focused on the issue of FOIA Reading 

Rooms. In particular, the Department has added the topic of FOIA Reading Rooms to 

many of its training programs so that agency personnel are fully apprised of the 

requirements imposed by the FOIA for posting documents. In addition, as the Report 

points out, the Department of Justice has launched an initiative to reach out to those 

agencies that it has identified as having Reading Rooms in need of improvement. These 

outreach efforts will be an on-going process as agencies work to improve both their 

Reading Rooms and their websites overall. 

Set out below is the U.S. Department of Education’s certification of agency 

compliance with the FOIA e-Reading Room legal requirements. 

A. Internal Review of Agency FOIA Reading Room 

The Department of Education’s FOIA e-Reading Room was reviewed to determine 

compliance to the legal requirements under subsection (a)(2) of the Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA). The review included an evaluation of the Department’s FOIA eReading Room to determine whether or not four distinct categories of records are 

affirmatively available for “public inspection and copying.” 

 

400 MARYLAND AVE., S.W., WASHINGTON, DC 20202-4500 

www.ed.gov 

Our mission is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the Nation. 
400 MARYLAND AVE., S.W., WASHINGTON, DC 20202-4500 

www.ed.gov 

Our mission is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the Nation. 

Page 2 

U.S. Department of Education FOIA Reading Room Certification 

The Department of Education’s FOIA e-Reading Room is certified as compliant in all 

four required legal categories: 

1. “final opinions [and]...orders” made in the adjudication of cases; 

2. specific agency policy statements; 

3. “administrative staff manuals and instructions to staff that affect a 

member of the public;” and 

4. records disclosed in response to a FOIA request that the “agency 

determines have become or are likely to become the subject of 

subsequent requests for substantially the same records.” 

B. Any Reading Room Deficiencies Addressed 

No deficiencies to report. 

C. Certification 

The U.S. Department of Education certifies that its FOIA e-Reading Room is in full legal 

compliance under subsection (a)(2) of the FOIA.