Federal Education Funding: Multiple Programs and Lack of Data Raise Efficiency and Effectiveness Concerns (Supplemental Information to Testimony)

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided supplemental information to its previous testimony on the challenges in obtaining important information about education programs and their outcomes, focusing on: (1) the definition and criteria GAO used to identify the number of federal education programs and departments that administer them; (2) the number of funded federal education programs providing direct instructional assistance and indirect instructional assistance to students in kindergarten through grade 12; (3) current data on how the Title I program has been working since its 1994 reauthorization; (4) the catch 22 federal policymakers face in wanting both accountability and more state and local flexibility; and (5) information on Performance Partnership Grants.