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09/14/06
Media
organizations, state institute settle lawsuit in Iowa
By HENRY C. JACKSON
Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A nonprofit group tasked with examining
teacher pay in Iowa has acknowledged it violated open meetings
laws earlier this summer when it held a closed-door meeting
to discuss the hiring of consultants.
The admission by the Institute for Tomorrow's Workforce is
part of a settlement announced Wednesday to a lawsuit filed
in Polk County by six media organizations, including The Associated
Press.
The media organizations had sued the institute after the group
met in private on July 27 to discuss the hiring of consultants.
According to the organization's meeting minutes, in open session
the board hired Learning Point Associates, of Naperville,
Ill., to study Iowa's educational system and performance pay,
agreeing to pay the firm $606,450.
According to the media organizations' lawsuit, the closed
session deprived the public of access to "meaningful
information that relates to the expenditure of more than $600,000"
of mostly public money as well as the "setting of educational
standards ... for the next generation."
For this budget year, the institute received $940,000 in state
money and will also be financed with $150,000 in private money.
Under the terms of the settlement, Institute for Tomorrow's
Workforce board members admitted they violated the state's
open meetings laws when they closed their session. Board members
denied, however, that they had intentionally skirted the state's
laws.
"The language of the settlement said that the directors
denied any intent to violate the law. But that's irrelevant.
The law is clear in what their responsibilities are and it's
also clear that ignorance is no excuse for violating the law,"
said Kathleen Richardson, executive secretary of the Iowa
Freedom of Information Council, one of the groups involved
in the lawsuit.
The settlement stipulates that board members who voted to
close the July 27 meeting each be fined $100 -- though they
can avoid paying the penalty if they abide by open meetings
laws for the next year. The Institute for Tomorrow's Workforce
will also will pay the legal expenses of the media organizations
as well as court costs.
"The consent order was an appropriate resolution,"
said Mark E. Roth, an attorney for the Institute for Tomorrow's
Workforce. "I think it kind of speaks for itself."
Richardson said the settlement reaffirmed Iowa's open meetings
laws. She was hopeful it would promote more education about
open meetings laws.
"We hope that by being legally enjoined from violating
the law for a year that this may prompt (the institute) to
get some training in open records and meetings laws that they
obviously need," she said. "We also hope other government
officials will get the message that they can't violate the
access laws in Iowa with impunity. They have consequences."
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Iowa Freedom of Information
Council, the Iowa Newspaper Association, The Associated Press,
The Des Moines Register, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
and The Gazette in Cedar Rapids.
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On the Net:
Institute for Tomorrow's Workforce: http://www.tomorrowsworkforce.org/
Iowa Freedom of Information Council: http://www.drake.edu/journalism/foi/ifoi2.html
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