Media published flawed AP article about state Department of Education, but not AP's follow-up noting agency's criticism

Summary: A written statement from the Colorado Department of Education pointed out what it described as "significant errors" in an Associated Press article about Colorado State Board of Education procedures regarding teacher disciplinary cases. Some news outlets that published the original article failed to carry the AP's update addressing those issues -- among them the Rocky Mountain News, the Boulder Daily Camera, and the Greeley Tribune.

An article distributed March 18 by the Associated Press contained what the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) in a March 19 statement called "significant errors" regarding "how details of teacher disciplinary cases are made available to the public." News outlets including the Rocky Mountain News, the Boulder Daily Camera, and the Greeley Tribune published the original AP article on their websites but as of March 21 had not published online a follow-up AP article that addressed the errors the CDE identified in the original.

The article, by Steven K. Paulson, appeared March 19 in the local print edition of the News and March 18 on the websites of the News, The Denver Post, the Daily Camera, The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction, KCNC CBS4, KMGH 7News, The Gazette of Colorado Springs, the Grand Junction Free Press, the Greeley Tribune, the Summit Daily News, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent, the Colorado Daily, and the Examiner.

The AP reported March 18:

A decision by the state Board of Education to switch to an electronic meeting agenda and paperless system in 2005 has left many parents in the dark about public school teachers who have been suspended or fired for serious crimes, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Records affected by the move include the case of a teacher accused of sexual assault on a child, and another who engaged in immoral conduct with a child, according to settlement agreements with the teachers, who gave up their licenses.

Those records are available to the public at board headquarters in Denver. But they are no longer posted on the board minutes Web site.

The CDE's statement asserted that the AP article contained the following inaccuracies and offered corrections, attributed to Commissioner of Education Dwight D. Jones:

• The Associated Press story suggests that a conversion to an electronic agenda format altered how the public can access information about teacher disciplinary cases. This is incorrect. The educator licensing unit at the Colorado Department of Education has provided the same information to the public about final disciplinary actions of teachers and all license holders since 1997. In 2005, the board converted to an electronic agenda to save on costs and to increase Web-based access to the board's business. Board minutes are posted on the board's Web page and files of cases with final agency action may be reviewed at the department offices.

• The Associated Press story suggests that a group of disciplinary cases was "affected" by the move to the new agenda system. This is incorrect. The cases referenced in the story were posted shortly after that meeting, held Feb. 14, 2008.

• The Associated Press story suggests that over the past two years only the results of only one disciplinary case has been posted. This is incorrect. Any time the board approves a final agency action against a teacher, the name and information about the case is posted for public review.

The Associated Press then noted the CDE's corrections in a March 19 article, which reported:

DENVER -- The state Board of Education said Wednesday it has posted the results of teacher suspensions on the Internet, but the public still has to go to board headquarters if they want to see the complete files on final disciplinary actions by the board.

In a statement, the board insisted that a 2005 change to an electronic agenda provides the same information to the public about final disciplinary actions concerning teachers and all teacher license holders that it has provided since 1997.

"In 2005, the board converted to an electronic agenda to save on costs and to increase Web-based access to the board's business," it said.

"Board minutes are posted on the board's Web page and files of cases with final agency action may be reviewed at the department offices," the board said in response to an AP story on Tuesday that said the switch made it more difficult for the public to find information on teachers who have been disciplined.

While the websites of the Gazette, the Post, the Daily Sentinel, KCNC CBS4, KMGH 7News, the Post Independent, and the Examiner display the AP's update to its March 18 article, as of March 21 the News, the Daily Camera, the Tribune, the Free Press, the Summit Daily News, and the Colorado Daily still displayed only the uncorrected AP article. The local print edition of the News as of March 21 had not published the AP's follow-up story addressing the errors the CDE cited.

—E.B.