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Reinvention Express Special

Reinvention Report Card: Solid B, with A+ for Effort
Five years after Vice President Gore presented the initial reinventing government recommendations to the President, the initiative got an overall grade of B in a report issued by the Brookings Institution's Center for Public Management on September 4th.

"No such effort has ever received such lasting, high-level support," author Donald Kettl said. Noting the tremendous demands on the Vice President's time, he said "the sustained effort is truly remarkable (and deserves an A+)." Despite the "consistently strong leadership from the top," Kettl said it was "inconsistent below" and federal workers got "mixed signals." Kettl is Director of the La Follette Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin and a nonresident fellow at Brookings.

Calling the initiative "one of the most remarkable reform efforts in American history," Kettl gave an A for procurement reform, B+ for customer service, and B on downsizing. He gave "incompletes" on two newest efforts--high impact agencies and service integration. He also gave average or less-than-average grades in such areas as performance improvement.

The full report card is in reporter Stephen Barr's story in the Washington Post and Brian Friel's story in GovExec.

View the Report Card as a PDF file on the Brookings web site.

The 71-page report, "Reinventing Government A Fifth Year Report Card," is for sale by Brookings Press. The price is $9.95 and credit cards are accepted. Call (202) 797-6258.

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