In a recent post, Jon Pelto accused the state Department of Education of failing to follow the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

I find this interesting, since it seems Pelto doesn’t have a grasp on the FOIA either.

Even to the untrained eye, his requests appear to be extremely vague. One of his requests reads:

“An October Freedom of information request for information related to potential work Stefan Pryor has given to another out-of-state consultant…”

If this is how he actually wrote his FOIA requests, it’s no wonder the State Department of Education took over 100 days to gather information. They’d be stuck shuffling through hundreds, if not thousands, of documents trying to fulfill such an absurd request.

Of course, Pelto probably believes the sole job of state Department of Education staff is to cater to his every whim.

Beyond the overly vague, overly broad “requests,” Pelto decided to wait well outside the statute of limitations for appeal to point this out. According to the Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press, the State Department of Education has four days to respond to a Freedom of Information Act Request. If the agency fails to respond in four days, it’s counted as a denial for appeals purposes. According to the FOIA, Pelto had 30 days to appeal a denial. [ Reporters Committee for Freedom of The Press, Time Limit for Agency Response ; Administrative Appeal Time Limit]

If Pelto waited 100 days for his request, then the statute of limitations expired at least 66 days ago.

If this wasn’t a stunt to interfere with the workings of the Department of Education, wouldn’t he have filed an appeal with the State Freedom of Information Commission instead of waiting until it was post worthy?