Title I: Although Definitions of Administrative Expenditures Vary, Almost All School Districts Studied Spent Less Than 10 Percent on Administration. Report to Congressional Committees.

United States General Accounting Office, 441 G Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20548. Tel: 202-512-4800; Web site: http://www.gao.gov. For full text: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03386.pdf.

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Policymakers

Cost Effectiveness; Costs; Educational Administration; Educational Finance; Elementary Secondary Education; Expenditures; Fringe Benefits; Government Publications; Legal Costs; Operating Expenses; Resource Allocation; Salaries; School District Spending

As mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the Government Accounting Office was charged with examining how school districts defined and spent Title I funds on administrative activities, and with reviewing Title I expenditures in at least six school districts. This document reports on how five studies defined Title I administrative expenditures and what they found about the percentage of funds spent on these activities, and what proportion of Title I funds was spent on administrative activities compared with instructional and other activities in six school districts. GAO conducted a literature review of studies and reports related to Title I and gathered data on administrative expenditures for the 2000-01 school year from six school districts across the country. The GAO found that district spending classified as administrative in the studies varied from 4 percent to 10 percent. In the six school districts, definitions of administrative expenditures varied, in part because of differing state and local requirements or practices. GAO, therefore, identified a set of categories as administrative expenditures and found that in the six school districts expenditures ranged from none to 13 percent of total Title I funds spend on administration. (WFA)

2004

ED477354