Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the implementation of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act, focusing on the: (1) extent to which the act provides access to quality vocational education programs for designated populations, encourages modernization and improvement of state and local programs, and directs funds to the most economically depressed communities within each state; and (2) availability at the federal level of vocational education data for legislative and executive oversight.
GAO reviewed 6 states and 20 localities and found that: (1) they generally used program funds appropriately, but some vocational education students in disadvantaged areas were less likely to receive funding for improved or modernized program activities than students outside such areas; (2) all six states allocated more than half of their basic state grants to economically depressed areas, as the act required, but some states designated relatively wealthy areas as economically depressed and gave them greater per-capita funding than some poorer communities; (3) the funds allocation formula for disadvantaged populations shifted funds from poor communities to more affluent ones because it included nonpoor, academically disadvantaged students; (4) a large number of school districts in four states returned funds for the disadvantaged and handicapped to the states, and one state reallocated funds to more affluent areas in the state; and (5) the Department of Education has not developed a national vocational education data system, making congressional oversight and program administration more difficult.
