Two Minority Hiring Programs Shelved For Veterans

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
November 30, 2007
Pg. D4
Federal Diary
By Stephen Barr
Two hiring programs created two decades ago to replace a civil service exam that was deemed biased against minorities are coming to an end. They have lost out in a legal clash over the government's obligation to show a preference to military veterans when filling jobs.
In a memo this month to federal agencies, the Office of Personnel Management said it "believes that agencies should discontinue" use of the Outstanding Scholar Program and the Bilingual/Bicultural Program.
OPM said "it does not appear possible" to use the two programs "and also comply with the veterans' preference provisions" in civil service law.
As a general practice, veterans are supposed to have an edge for federal jobs if they meet the minimum qualifications for a position. But the two special hiring programs do not evaluate and rate applicants in ways that take the veterans preference into account, officials said.
The special programs were called into question in 2005 when two veterans, David Dean and Matthew S. Olson, filed suits contending they were wrongfully passed over for jobs and non-veterans were hired instead through the Outstanding Scholar program. The Merit Systems Protection Board sided with the veterans last year after OPM had asked the board to reconsider a previous ruling in their cases.
The hiring programs grew out of a civil lawsuit brought by a group of minority job applicants who contended that they failed a written civil service test because it was biased. In 1981, the government entered into a consent decree, known as Luevano, that established the two programs.
They were supposed to be temporary until OPM could devise new hiring methods for entry-level jobs in the professional and administrative occupations. But they became entrenched in the bureaucracy, in large part because they proved to be fast and easy ways to hire applicants.
The Outstanding Scholar program required applicants to have high baccalaureate grade-point averages or upper class rank; the Bilingual/Bicultural program required Spanish-language abilities or knowledge of Hispanic culture.
But a study conducted by the merit board in 2000 found agencies were primarily using the programs to speed up hiring rather than as a way to bring more African Americans and Hispanics into the government. White women benefited from the Outstanding Scholar program more than minorities, the study suggested.
After the Outstanding Scholar program was challenged in court by the veterans, agencies began to use the two programs less. In 2005, only 693 people were hired through the scholar program and only 111 through the bilingual program, according to merit board data.
Agencies instead appear to have turned to the Federal Career Intern Program to bring in entry-level employees. In 2005, about 45 percent of professional and administrative jobs, at the General Schedule 5, 7 and 9 levels, were filled through the intern program. Interns work for two years on a trial basis and, if successful, are converted to a permanent civil service position.
The National Treasury Employees Union, however, has filed suit over the intern program, contending it is being used to bypass century-old rules that require fair and open competition for federal jobs. That case is pending in federal court.
Minority groups are fairly well represented in hiring for federal professional and administrative jobs, OPM reports show, although there is concern about opportunities for minorities to advance into executive positions.
The demise of the two programs will not hinder future federal hiring, experts said.
"I think the impact in terms of the government's ability to hire people will be minimal," said John M. Palguta, a vice president of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service. "It will be an inconvenience for a number of agencies, but it is not going to diminish the government's ability to go out and hire good people."
To replace the old written exam that had an adverse impact on blacks and Hispanics, OPM in 1990 developed Administrative Careers With America to assess applicants and determine whether their knowledge and skills were relevant to the jobs they sought.
The original version required applicants to answer more than 150 questions, turning off many young job applicants seeking entry-level work in the government. OPM has streamlined the questionnaire over the last two years; it now asks about 80 questions, although the number can vary according to occupation.
Kerry B. McTigue, general counsel at OPM, said the merit board study in 2000 found that competitive hiring procedures aimed at finding the best-qualified applicants and the new evaluation questionnaire have resulted in a greater degree of diversity in the government than was achieved by hiring under the special programs.
 
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