BUREAU OF INDIAN EDUCATION

Greater Progress Needed to Address Remaining Challenges in Supporting and Overseeing Schools

Statement of Melissa Emrey-Arras, Director,
Education, Workforce, and Income Security

Testimony
Before the Subcommittee on
Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives

For Release on Delivery Expected at 2:00 p.m. ET

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

GAO-25-108103

United States Government Accountability Office

February 12, 2025

BUREAU OF INDIAN EDUCATION

Greater Progress Needed to Address Remaining Challenges in Supporting and Overseeing Schools

View GAO-25-108103. For more information, contact Melissa Emrey-Arras at (202) 512-7215 or emreyarrasm@gao.gov.

Highlights of GAO-25-108103, a testimony before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Natural Resources, House of Representatives 

Why GAO Did This Study

BIE’s mission is to provide a high-quality education to approximately 46,000 students at 183 elementary and secondary schools on or near reservations in 23 states. About two-thirds of these schools are operated by Tribes, while the remaining third are operated by BIE.

Over the past 12 years, GAO has identified a pattern of problems in BIE’s support and oversight of schools. Because of the persistence of these problems, GAO added BIE’s school management to its High-Risk List in 2017.

This testimony describes (1) problems GAO has identified at BIE, (2) progress BIE has made in recent years, and (3) the high-risk management weaknesses that remain. It draws on GAO’s reports and testimonies on BIE since 2013. For these prior reports, GAO reviewed relevant federal laws and regulations, examined agency documentation, interviewed agency officials, and conducted site visits to selected BIE schools, among other methods.

This testimony also includes new information on BIE’s progress in addressing high-risk management weaknesses since GAO’s most recent high-risk update in 2023. This new information is based on GAO’s review of agency documentation and interviews with agency officials.

What GAO Found

GAO has identified and reported on numerous problems since 2013 at the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), within the Department of the Interior (Interior). During this period, GAO issued 24 reports and testimonies and made 38 recommendations to BIE related to the agency’s support and oversight of schools. Key problem areas with BIE’s support and oversight have been school spending, special education, school safety and construction, distance learning, and administrative support for schools. For example, in 2024 GAO found that nearly half of COVID-19 spending made with purchase cards at BIE schools involved transactions at elevated risk for fraud or misuse, but BIE did not provide evidence that it had investigated any of these purchases. GAO’s repeated findings of problems in key areas have indicated a pattern of systemic management weaknesses at BIE that limit its support and oversight of schools.

BIE has taken commendable steps in recent years to address many of these problems. BIE and related Interior offices  have implemented 28 of the 38 recommendations GAO made since 2013, including all recommendations on school safety and construction. Ten recommendations on support and oversight of special education, distance learning, and school spending remain open. In addition, BIE has fully met two of GAO’s five criteria for addressing high-risk management weaknesses. Specifically, it demonstrated strong and sustained leadership commitment to addressing its weaknesses and developed action plans that define sound approaches to following through on corrective measures.   

BIE continues to face persistent management weaknesses in three areas: building staff capacity for supporting and overseeing schools, monitoring corrective measures, and demonstrating sustained progress in resolving high-risk issues. Remaining focused on resolving these underlying issues is essential for BIE to effectively fulfill its mission of providing high-quality education opportunities for American Indian students.

Chairman Gosar, Ranking Member Dexter, and Members of the Subcommittee:

Thank you for the opportunity today to discuss the Bureau of Indian Education’s (BIE) progress and challenges in supporting and overseeing schools for American Indian students. BIE’s mission is to provide a high-quality education to approximately 46,000 students at 183 elementary and secondary schools on or near reservations in 23 states. About two-thirds of these schools are operated by Tribes through grants or contracts with BIE, while the remaining third are operated by BIE.[1]

BIE provides or funds a variety of programs, services, and supports to students beyond just classroom instruction. These include Native language development and cultural enrichment, behavioral health and wellness services, and educational technology. BIE also has responsibilities related to supporting schools’ facilities operations and maintenance and ensuring that school buildings and student dormitories offer safe places in which to live and learn.

Since 2013, we have identified and reported on numerous problems at BIE. During this period, we have issued 24 reports and testimonies and made 38 recommendations to BIE and associated offices within the Department of the Interior (Interior) related to the BIE’s support, administration, and oversight of schools.[2]

We have repeatedly found problems in key areas we reviewed at BIE, such as the poor condition of school buildings and BIE’s limited oversight of schools’ federal spending. Taken together, these problems indicated a broader pattern of systemic management weaknesses at BIE. As a result, in 2017, we added BIE’s support and oversight of schools to GAO’s High-Risk List.[3] BIE remains on our High-Risk List as of our most recent report in 2023.[4]

BIE has responded to many of the problems we have highlighted in our reports and testimonies by taking steps to prioritize and address underlying management weaknesses. In addition, the agency, in coordination with other Interior offices, has implemented about 74 percent (28 out of 38) of the recommendations we have made since 2013, including several that we designated urgent priorities to agency leadership, such as recommendations to address school safety issues. BIE has also contended with constraints related to its budget and ability to hire staff, as well as challenges with supporting and overseeing schools in remote parts of the country.[5]

The steps BIE has taken represent important progress toward improving its administration of schools. However, more work is needed to address remaining high-risk weaknesses.

My statement today describes (1) problems GAO has identified with BIE’s support and oversight of schools, (2) progress BIE has made in recent years, and (3) the high-risk management weaknesses that remain to be addressed. This statement draws primarily from our work on BIE from 2013 (when we issued our initial report on BIE) to 2024. It also includes new information about BIE’s progress toward addressing high-risk management weaknesses since our most recent update in 2023. This new information is based on our review of agency documentation and interviews with agency officials. To conduct our prior work on which this testimony draws, we reviewed relevant federal laws and regulations, analyzed agency data, reviewed agency documentation, interviewed agency officials, and conducted site visits to selected BIE schools, among other methods.[6]

We conducted the work on which this statement is based in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

Background

BIE Schools and the Federal Government’s Trust Responsibility

BIE’s education programs for American Indian students derive from the federal government’s unique and continuing trust relationship with and responsibility to Tribes for the education of those students.[7] According to statute, the federal government should “work in full cooperation with tribes toward the goal of ensuring that [BIE-funded school programs] are of the highest quality and provide for the basic elementary and secondary educational needs of Indian children, including meeting the unique educational and cultural needs of those children.”[8]

Tracking Agencies’ Progress in Implementing GAO’s Recommendations

As part of GAO’s audit responsibilities under generally accepted government auditing standards, we make recommendations to improve the accountability, operations, and services of government agencies. We follow up on recommendations we have made and report to Congress on their status. A recommendation is closed when actions that satisfy the intent of the recommendation have been taken, or when it is no longer valid because circumstances have changed. Experience has shown that it takes time for some recommendations to be implemented. We maintain a publicly available database with information on the current status of all recommendations. The database allows searches by agency, congressional committee, or key words and is available at http://www.gao.gov/openrecs.html.

High-Risk List

In addition to making recommendations to specific agencies or programs, since 1990, generally every 2 years at the start of a new Congress, we issue an update of our High-Risk List. The High-Risk List calls attention to agencies and program areas that are high-risk due to their vulnerability to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement or that are most in need of transformation. Our high-risk program is intended to help inform the congressional oversight agenda and to improve government performance. Key elements needed to make progress in high-risk areas are top-level attention by administration and agency leaders grounded in five criteria: leadership commitment, capacity, an action plan, monitoring, and demonstrated progress (see fig. 1).[9]

These five criteria form a road map for agency efforts to improve and ultimately address high-risk issues. Addressing some of the criteria leads to progress, and satisfying all of the criteria is central to removal from the list. However, fully implementing our recommendations alone does not result in removal from the list because the condition that led to the recommendations is symptomatic of systemic management weaknesses. When an agency has met all five of the criteria, we can remove the agency from the High-Risk List.[10] Our 2025 High-Risk Report is scheduled to be issued in the next few weeks.

School Safety and Construction and Oversight of School Spending Have Been Among the Key Problems at BIE

The findings and recommendations in our work since 2013 have highlighted BIE’s problems in five key areas of its support and oversight of schools: school spending, special education, school safety and construction, distance learning, and administrative support for schools (see fig. 2).[11]

Note: In some areas, such as school safety and construction and administrative support for schools, BIE has coordinated with other offices within the Department of the Interior.

School Facility Safety and Construction. In 2016, we found that on average about a third of all BIE schools did not receive annual safety inspections in the prior 4 years as required by agency policy.[12] We also reported on hazardous conditions we found at some BIE schools. For example, at one school we found multiple aging boilers in a dormitory and classroom buildings that failed inspection due to elevated levels of carbon monoxide and a natural gas leak that endangered students and staff. Although the boilers failed inspection, the school continued to use the dormitory for another 6 months.[13] Officials we interviewed at another school told us that a regional safety inspector visited the school only once in several years and conducted the inspection from his car. The inspection did not include the interior of any of the school’s 34 buildings. As a result of these and other safety findings, we recommended in 2016 that the agency ensure all BIE school facilities are annually inspected, among several other recommendations.

We also found problems with school construction and facility maintenance. For example, in 2017 we identified significant delays and cost overruns with the agency’s management of major school construction projects.[14] For example, of the 49 projects we reviewed, about a third (16) were 3 or more years behind schedule, and one project was nearly 10 years behind schedule. In addition, about a fifth (10) were 20 percent or more over budget. To address these delays and cost overruns, we recommended that the agency develop and implement guidelines to ensure better accountability and oversight of school construction. In a 2015 report, we also highlighted concerns with the accuracy and completeness of data on schools’ deferred maintenance needs.[15]

School Spending. We have identified a variety of issues with BIE’s oversight of school spending. For example, in 2014 we reported on serious financial problems in some schools that were identified through external audits.[16] This included $13.8 million in unallowable spending at 24 schools and $1.2 million of federal funds at one school that were improperly transferred to an offshore account.

We also found that BIE did not have fiscal monitoring procedures, or sufficient staff with the requisite skills to effectively oversee schools’ spending. As a result, we recommended that BIE develop written procedures to oversee school expenditures and build staff capacity for fiscal monitoring. Similarly, in 2024 we identified several key issues with BIE’s oversight of the more than $900 million in federal COVID-19 funds it provided to schools during the pandemic.[17] For example, we found that over a quarter of required fiscal year 2021 financial audit reports for schools and Tribes that were granted BIE funds were late or had not been submitted as of November 2023. However, BIE did not hold about two-thirds of these grantees accountable, contrary to agency procedures.

In addition, we found that for BIE-operated schools, nearly half of COVID-19 spending made with purchase cards between March 2020 and August 2022 involved elevated-risk transactions. Examples included the purchase of gift cards or multiple purchases at the same merchant within a certain number of days that total more than the single purchase limit. However, BIE did not provide evidence that it had investigated these transactions for fraud or misuse.

As a result of these findings, we recommended that BIE ensure its staff follow agency procedures when schools do not submit timely financial audit reports. We also recommended that BIE staff consistently use required procedures to monitor school purchase card transactions, among other recommendations.

Administrative Support for Schools, Special Education, and Distance Learning. We have also reported on a variety of issues in other areas, including BIE’s administrative supports for schools, special education services, and distance learning.[18] For example, in 2020 we reported that BIE schools did not provide or could not account for more than a third of special education service time required for students with disabilities.[19] We also found that BIE provided limited monitoring and technical assistance to schools to help them comply with federal special education requirements. As a result, we recommended that BIE conduct all required monitoring and ensure staff are trained to provide schools with the assistance necessary for their special education programs.

Our repeated findings of problems with school facility safety, oversight of school spending, and other issues identified in our earlier work indicated a broad pattern of systemic management weaknesses at BIE. As a result, in 2017, we added BIE’s support and oversight of schools as a component of a new area, Improving Federal Management of Programs that Serve Tribes and Their Members, on GAO’s High-Risk List.[20]

BIE Has Addressed Some Management Weaknesses Underlying Key Problems

BIE has taken several key steps in prioritizing and addressing the high-risk management weaknesses that contribute to the problems we identified in our prior work. By 2019, BIE had made progress and partially met all five of GAO’s high-risk criteria for removal from the High-Risk List. BIE made further improvements by 2023. Specifically, it demonstrated strong and sustained leadership commitment to address management weaknesses and developed action plans that defined sound approaches to following through on corrective measures. These steps fully met GAO’s leadership commitment and action plan high-risk criteria (see fig. 3).

BIE has demonstrated leadership commitment in several ways. For example, in 2019 it established a leadership position and supporting office to guide the agency toward meeting its strategic goals and to address the management weaknesses identified in our reports. BIE leadership has also prioritized implementing recommendations we designated as urgent, such as those related to school safety.[21] In addition, BIE developed action plans to address the root causes of a variety of problems we previously identified. For example, it developed a plan to support schools in addressing facility safety issues through comprehensive technical training for school staff. Training areas ranged from maintaining fire alarm and sprinkler systems to monthly safety check procedures.

Further, BIE and other Interior offices have implemented 28 of the 38 recommendations we made since 2013, including all 16 of our recommendations on school facility safety and construction.[22] Ten recommendations related to BIE’s support and oversight of schools from our three most recent products on special education, distance learning, and school spending remain open.[23] However, BIE is near completion with implementing 2 of these recommendations on special education and distance learning.[24]

BIE’s actions in response to our recommendations have resulted in a variety of benefits for schools and students. For example, BIE conducted annual safety inspections at all schools in response to our recommendation. BIE also took steps to routinely monitor its safety inspection process for schools. Its monitoring includes assessing the performance of inspectors and holding them accountable for the agency’s required standards for producing high-quality, timely inspection reports. Such reports provide schools with critical information to identify and promptly abate high-risk hazards in buildings that may endanger the lives of students and staff. BIE also made progress toward addressing some problems related to overseeing school spending. For example, it developed written procedures for monitoring school spending in response to our 2014 recommendation.

More Work Is Needed to Address Remaining Management Weaknesses

BIE has made important progress in implementing our recommendations and addressing some key underlying management weaknesses identified in our High-Risk reports, but additional work remains to address several other persistent management challenges. These include building staff capacity for supporting and overseeing schools, monitoring corrective measures, and demonstrating sustained progress in resolving high-risk issues.

Building staff capacity has been a challenge for BIE for over a decade. We have found that BIE’s insufficient staff capacity has limited its ability to monitor schools’ federal spending and assist schools with their special education programs. BIE has taken steps to address this issue. For example, it developed a strategic workforce plan in 2019 to address staffing shortages across the agency, in response to our recommendations from 2013 and 2015. However, BIE’s capacity issues have persisted. For example, in 2020 we found it did not have sufficient staff to monitor special education services at all schools to ensure students with disabilities receive these services as required by law. Also, in 2024 we found that BIE did not have sufficient staff to complete all required monitoring of schools it designated as at a high risk of financial mismanagement over the last year. BIE officials have told us that the agency’s ability to hire staff is affected by its budget and what officials described as a lengthy and complex hiring process. However, there are steps that BIE could take to help build staff capacity, including fully implementing our 2024 recommendation to update the agency’s strategic workforce plan, which expired in 2022.[25] In addition, BIE could assess its staffing resources to ensure they are aligned with current and future needs.

Further, BIE continues to face management weaknesses related to two other high-risk criteria: monitoring and demonstrated progress. Monitoring requires that agencies establish processes to monitor and validate the effectiveness of their corrective measures. For example, BIE has not yet developed adequate controls to monitor purchase card transactions at BIE-operated schools to identify potential fraud and misuse of federal funds, which we initially reported on in 2024.

In addition, BIE needs to demonstrate continued progress in resolving high-risk problems related to supporting and overseeing schools. These problems include inadequate training of agency staff responsible for assisting schools with their special education programs. Further, we found in our 2024 report that agency staff did not consistently follow standard procedures when schools do not submit required financial audit reports.[26] Significant work remains for the agency in resolving these high-risk issues. Demonstrating progress in addressing problems, building capacity, and institutionalizing monitoring will require the sustained support of senior agency leaders.

In conclusion, BIE has taken commendable steps in recent years to address many of the problems highlighted in our work, most notably BIE leadership’s strong and sustained commitment to address management weaknesses. However, challenges continue to reemerge at BIE because of the three remaining management weaknesses the agency has yet to fully address. Remaining focused on resolving these underlying issues is essential for BIE to effectively fulfill its mission of providing high-quality education opportunities for American Indian students.

Chairman Gosar, Ranking Member Dexter, and Members of the Subcommittee, this completes my prepared statement. I would be pleased to respond to any questions that you may have.

GAO Contact/Staff Acknowledgments

If you or your staff have any questions, please contact Melissa Emrey-Arras at (202) 512-7215 or emreyarrasm@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this statement. Key contributors to this statement include William Colvin (Assistant Director), Edward Bodine (Analyst in Charge), Jessica Ard, James Bennett, Charlotte Cable, Mary Edgerton, Abby Marcus, and Kathryn O’Dea Lamas.

Bureau of Indian Education: Improved Oversight of Schools’ COVID-19 Spending Is Needed. GAO‑24‑105451. Washington, D.C.: Mar. 27, 2024.

High-Risk Series: Efforts Made to Achieve Progress Need to Be Maintained and Expanded to Fully Address All Areas. GAO‑23‑106203. Washington, D.C.: Apr. 20, 2023.

High-Risk: Bureau of Indian Education Has Addressed Some Management Weaknesses, but Additional Work Is Needed on Others. GAO‑22‑106104. Washington, D.C.: June 28, 2022.

Indian Education: Schools Need More Assistance to Provide Distance Learning. GAO‑21‑492T. Washington, D.C.: Apr. 28, 2021.

High-Risk Series: Dedicated Leadership Needed to Address Limited Progress in Most High-Risk Areas. GAO‑21‑119SP. Washington, D.C.: Mar. 2, 2021.

Indian Education: Actions Needed to Ensure Students with Disabilities Receive Special Education Services. GAO‑20‑358. Washington, D.C.: May 22, 2020.

Tribal Programs: Resource Constraints and Management Weaknesses Can Limit Federal Program Delivery to Tribes. GAO‑20‑270T. Washington, D.C.: Nov. 19, 2019.

High Risk: Progress Made but Continued Attention Needed to Address Management Weaknesses at Federal Agencies Serving Indian Tribes. GAO‑19‑445T. Washington, D.C.: Mar. 12, 2019.

High-Risk Series: Substantial Efforts Needed to Achieve Greater Progress on High-Risk Areas. GAO‑19‑157SP. Washington D.C., Mar. 6, 2019.

High Risk: Agencies Need to Continue Efforts to Address Management Weaknesses of Federal Programs Serving Indian Tribes. GAO‑18‑616T. Washington, D.C.: June 13, 2018.

High Risk: Status of Prior Recommendations on Federal Management of Programs Serving Indian Tribes. GAO‑17‑790T. Washington, D.C.: Sept. 13, 2017.

High Risk: Actions Needed to Address Serious Weaknesses in Federal Management of Programs Serving Indian Tribes. GAO‑17‑589T. Washington, D.C.: May 24, 2017.

Indian Affairs: Actions Needed to Better Manage Indian School Construction Projects. GAO‑17‑447. Washington, D.C.: May 24, 2017.

Indian Affairs: Further Actions Needed to Improve Oversight and Accountability for School Safety Inspections. GAO‑17‑421. Washington, D.C.: May 24, 2017.

High Risk: Actions Needed to Address Serious Weaknesses in Federal Management of Programs Serving Indian Tribes. GAO‑17‑587T. Washington, D.C.: May 17, 2017.

High-Risk Series: Progress on Many High-Risk Areas, While Substantial Efforts Needed on Others. GAO‑17‑317. Washington, D.C.: Feb. 15, 2017.

Indian Affairs: Key Actions Needed to Ensure Safety and Health at Indian School Facilities. GAO‑16‑391T. Washington, D.C.: Mar. 16, 2016.

Indian Affairs: Key Actions Needed to Ensure Safety and Health at Indian School Facilities. GAO‑16‑313. Washington, D.C.: Mar. 10, 2016.

Indian Affairs: Further Actions on GAO Recommendations Needed to Address Systemic Management Challenges with Indian Education. GAO‑15‑597T. Washington, D.C.: May 13, 2015.

Indian Affairs: Further Actions on GAO Recommendations Needed to Address Systemic Management Challenges with Indian Education. GAO‑15‑539T. Washington, D.C.: Apr. 22, 2015.

Indian Affairs: Preliminary Results Show Continued Challenges to the Oversight and Support of Education Facilities. GAO‑15‑389T. Washington, D.C.: Feb. 27, 2015.

Indian Affairs: Bureau of Indian Education Needs to Improve Oversight of School Spending. GAO‑15‑121. Washington, D.C.: Nov. 13, 2014.

Indian Affairs: Better Management and Accountability Needed to Improve Indian Education. GAO‑13‑774. Washington, D.C.: Sept. 24, 2013.

Indian Affairs: Management Challenges Continue to Hinder Efforts to Improve Indian Education. GAO‑13‑342T. Washington, D.C., Feb. 27, 2013.

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