chronic-absenteeism

1. September 28, 2026News4 receipts4 min

   GAO says the Education Department halted its most comprehensive check on key federal K-12 aid programs in 2026 and is not currently assessing whether states follow the fiscal rules of Title I, a program through which it allocated over $18 billion to states in fiscal 2025; the Department says it never stopped monitoring and disagreed with GAO's call to resume.

   The Government Accountability Office reported on September 23 (GAO-26-107920) that in 2026 the Department of Education suspended consolidated monitoring, its most comprehensive review of whether states follow the program and fiscal rules of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and is not currently assessing compliance with the fiscal requirements for Title I, the aid program for schools with many students from low-income families. Education allocated over $18 billion to states through Title I in fiscal 2025, about two-thirds of the almost $27 billion in the law's formula grants. GAO says 32 of 51 states have had no consolidated review since 2019, that Education could not give plans or timeframes for resuming as of August 2026, and that the law does not explicitly direct Education to monitor. GAO describes a higher risk of undetected fraud, waste or abuse, not a finding of misuse. It asked Congress to consider spelling out monitoring requirements and asked Education to promptly resume more comprehensive monitoring. In an August 21 letter answering a draft version of that recommendation, Education disagreed, said it had never ceased monitoring, and said it would provide its fiscal year 2027 monitoring plan in early fall 2026.

   Also filed undergaoeducation-departmenttitle-ik-12federal-grantsoversight

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