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GAO-21-428PR 1 (2021-06-30)

handle is hein.gao/gaolwz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 1Oo U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE A Century of Non-Partisan Fact-Based Work 441 G St. N.W. Comptroller General Washington, DC 20548 of the United States June 30, 2021 The Honorable Miguel Cardona Secretary of Education U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20202 Priority Open Recommendations: Department of Education Dear Secretary Cardona: The purpose of this letter is to provide an update on the overall status of the Department of Education's implementation of GAO's recommendations and to call your personal attention to areas where open recommendations should be given high priority.1 In November 2020, we reported that on a government-wide basis, 77 percent of our recommendations made 4 years ago were implemented.2 Education's recommendation implementation rate was 77 percent. As of May 2021, Education had 80 open recommendations. Fully implementing these open recommendations could significantly improve agency operations. Since our April 2020 letter, Education has implemented three of six priority recommendations. * Education collaborated with EPA to encourage testing for lead in school drinking water, provided information online and through a mobile app, and instructed school safety officials on how to incorporate lead testing and remediation into school emergency planning. These efforts raise awareness of the threat of lead in school drinking water. * Regarding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, Education released a new online tool that helps borrowers better understand eligibility requirements and includes a searchable database of qualifying employers. This tool will help borrowers and the PSLF servicers determine whether employment with specific employers will qualify borrowers for the program. * Education updated its cyber risk management framework to incorporate key elements of a cybersecurity risk management strategy, such as a statement of risk tolerance and acceptable risk response strategies. The agency now has a better organization-wide understanding of acceptable risk levels and appropriate risk response strategies to protect its systems and data. We ask you to direct your attention to the three remaining priority recommendations identified in the 2020 letter. We are adding four new recommendations related to data collected on restraint and seclusion in K-12 public schools, and K-12 COVID-19 relief spending, bringing the total 1 Priority recommendations are those that GAO believes warrant priority attention from heads of key departments or agencies. They are highlighted because, upon implementation, they may significantly improve government operations, for example, by realizing large dollar savings; eliminating mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or making progress toward addressing a high-risk or fragmentation, overlap, or duplication issue. 2 GAO, Performance and Accountability Report: Fiscal Year 2020, GAO-21-4SP (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 16, 2020). GAO-21-428PR Priority Recommendations: Education Page 1

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