A report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) this week revealed that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has halted its consolidated monitoring of programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The report resulted from a request from lawmakers for GAO to review States’ efforts to improve chronic absenteeism – an indicator many States incorporate into their accountability systems and a data point all States must report on annually. As part of the review, GAO examined ED’s oversight processes related to federal chronic absenteeism tracking and reporting.
During that review, GAO found that ED has assessed State compliance with chronic absenteeism requirements in approximately half of States between 2019 and 2025, with most reviews occurring through the ESEA consolidated monitoring process and a few others through targeted monitoring, which took place in 2023. However, GAO also discovered that ED suspended its consolidated monitoring process this year, leaving 32 States that have never been monitored under the consolidated process, which began in 2019. In addition, 25 States remain unmonitored on chronic absenteeism requirements. ED’s argued that it suspended monitoring because the agency is “developing plans for future monitoring activities,” but officials did not provide GAO with an estimated implementation timeline or further information on what that process may entail. Assistant Secretary Kirsten Baeslar, however, reportedly stated that the new monitoring plan will become available this fall. The pause in monitoring is likely related to ED’s implementation of several interagency agreements, under which programs are being shifted or co-administered with other agencies like the Department of Labor.
Resources:
Mackenzie Wilkes, “Pause in monitoring K-12 programs could put funds at risk, watchdog warns,” Politico, September 23, 2026.
