Giving Compass' Take:

• Rebecca Klein reports that advocacy groups have sued the Department of Education for failing to disclose records related to their decision to use federal funds to arm teachers. 

• How can government transparency be increased to ensure that taxpayers understand how their money is being used, and why? 

• Read more about the decision to arm teachers using federal funds. 

A coalition of advocacy and teacher groups sued the U.S. Department of Education for information related to its decision to allow schools to purchase firearms using federal funds.

The American Federation of Teachers, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence say the Education Department is violating federal law by not releasing records related to the decision in a timely manner.

In August and September, the groups filed two Freedom of Information Act requests for more information on the decision. The requests, filed on behalf of the groups by Democracy Forward, were designed to glean information on issues such as whether the Education Department was influenced by the National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups. A request also sought information on which school districts were interested in arming teachers using federal funds.

The government is required to determine whether to comply with a FOIA request within 20 days. But according to the lawsuit, also filed by Democracy Forward, the government has fallen short of its statutory obligation. The plaintiffs are requesting expedited processing of their information request, which the government previously denied.

Read the full article about disclosing information about federal funding to arm teacher by Rebecca Klein at Huffington Post.