When President Bush released his spending plan for fiscal 2007 last week, his administration simultaneously unveiled a new Internet site that officials say is aimed at making sure taxpayers know how well, or how poorly, federal programs are working.
The site, , reports on more than 800 federal programs, categorizing them as either 鈥淧erforming鈥� or 鈥淣ot Performing.鈥� According to the site, which is managed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, 27 of the Department of Education programs OMB has reviewed are performing, and 47 are not.
Programs are rated according to the government鈥檚 Program Assessment Rating Tool, or PART, which the Bush administration has been using for several years to gauge effectiveness.
鈥淔or every program assessed, visitors can find a rating of the program鈥檚 performance, its strengths and weaknesses, and the program鈥檚 improvement plan,鈥� wrote Clay Johnson, the OMB deputy director, during an 鈥淎sk the White House鈥� online chat on Feb. 9. The Web site gives visitors a clear idea of how programs are doing, he wrote. 鈥淚t shows where federal programs are succeeding, admits where they fall short, and lays out what all programs are doing to get greater results,鈥� according to Mr. Johnson.
So far, according to expectmore.gov, about 80 percent of federal programs have been assessed, and the final 20 percent are expected to be rated this year.
The PART questionnaire determines whether a program鈥檚 purpose is clear and well-designed to achieve its objectives, looks at a program鈥檚 long-term goals, rates management of the program, and examines results for accuracy and consistency, the Web site says.
鈥楢 Distorted Tool鈥�
On the Web site, programs that have been grouped as 鈥淧erforming鈥� have been rated either 鈥渆ffective,鈥� 鈥渕oderately effective,鈥� or 鈥渁dequate.鈥� Effective education programs, as determined by PART, include the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the National Center for Education Statistics.
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Programs deemed 鈥淣ot Performing鈥� are then rated either 鈥渋neffective鈥� or 鈥渞esults not demonstrated.鈥� Ineffective programs, according to the rating system, include the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program and vocational education state grants鈥攂oth of which President Bush proposes eliminating in his fiscal 2007 budget.
Visitors to the Web site can also point and click to access much more detailed information about a program鈥檚 PART rating.
But some government-watchdog groups have concerns that the rating system does not offer a fair assessment.
J. Robert Shull, the director of regulatory policy at OMB Watch, a nonprofit organization in Washington, called the PART assessment a 鈥渄istorted tool鈥� and said the Web site would make it easy for the public and lawmakers to take those assessments at face value instead of investigating how programs may actually be doing.
The site is 鈥渇lashy and user-friendly,鈥� Mr. Shull said. 鈥淪uddenly, people with an anti-government agenda will be inclined to use OMB鈥檚 really political assessments as a basis for some really harsh decisions鈥� about staffing and funding.
鈥淭hat won鈥檛 serve the public interest,鈥� he said.
