Careers

Education, Workforce, and Income Security

Our Work
Recent Accomplishments
Ongoing Projects
Key Contacts

Our Work

The Education, Workforce, and Income Security team assists Congress by evaluating programs to educate, employ, protect, and support individuals and families in all phases of their lives. We consider the well-being of infants to seniors. We analyze how well we educate our youth, and transition our veterans and others to safe and productive jobs in a changing economy. We review efforts to support those with disabilities or at an economic disadvantage. We assess policy options for ensuring a financially secure retirement. Programs under our purview account for more than 40 percent of federal spending and touch the lives of virtually every American. With the fiscal challenges facing the nation and its families, we are tasked with ensuring agencies and programs effectively deliver results, both in dollars spent wisely and in goals met.

We analyze the efficiency and effectiveness of programs to

    • foster the development, education, and skill attainment of children and adults;
    • provide benefits and protections for workers, families, veterans, and those with disabilities;
    • ensure an adequate and secure retirement for an aging population.

Our team oversees programs and management in:

    • Corporation for National and Community Service
    • Department of Agriculture (food and nutrition programs)
    • Department of Education
    • Department of Health and Human Services (human services programs)
    • Department of Labor
    • Department of Veterans Affairs (benefits and education programs)
    • Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
    • Social Security Administration

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Recent Accomplishments

    • Recommended steps needed to protect seniors from abuse and exploitation.
    • Improved food safety in school meal programs by stressing speedier communication between agencies and to school districts when recalls are imminent.
    • Evaluated reforms in how K-12 teacher quality is defined and measured, and students tested for academic achievement.
    • Improved oversight of postsecondary schools’ recruitment of students and administration of federal student aid.
    • Suggested ways to effectively and efficiently get benefits to eligible veterans, and to improve administration of the recently implemented Post-9/11 GI Bill for education.
    • Examined duplication in employment and job training programs and suggested ways to share resources and initiatives by states.
    • Offered options for employer-sponsored pension plans and for boosting savings by individuals, particularly low earners, to finance secure retirements.
    • Monitored contracting oversight and strategic planning at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to mitigate financial threats.
    • Challenged the effectiveness of programs to help those with disabilities find and retain employment which share payments rather than provide support.
    • Analyzed survey methodology of Davis-Bacon wage rates for federally funded construction projects and identified shortcomings which impact accuracy and trust.

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Ongoing Projects

    • Evaluating elementary and secondary education reforms.
    • Reviewing supports to children in foster care.
    • Assessing the nation’s multiple nutrition assistance programs to ensure scarce funds are used most effectively and benefits reach only those eligible.
    • Determining whether employer-instituted programs to improve workplace safety provide disincentives for reporting or recording workplace injuries and illnesses.
    • Linking One-Stops, community colleges, and other stakeholders to more effectively support training and education so American workers will be positioned for the jobs of the future.
    • Ensuring postsecondary institutions deliver education and career results that reflect a fair return on students’ and the federal government’s financial investment.
    • Identifying federal programs that assist students with disabilities in the transition from high school to college or employment.
    • Reforming federal disability programs, including for veterans, by speeding processes, preventing fraud, and ensuring their future solvency.
    • Addressing vulnerabilities in access to Social Security numbers and other personal information in federal databases.
    • Offering options for Social Security and private pension reforms, and improvements to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, to protect workers’ retirement savings.

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Key Contacts

Managing Director: Barbara D. Bovbjerg

Directors: Daniel Bertoni, Kay E. Brown, Charlie Jeszeck, Revae Moran, Pat Owens, George A. Scott, Andy Sherrill

Phone: (202) 512-7215

Mailing Address:

U.S. Government Accountability Office
Education, Workforce, and Income Security
Room 5928
441 G Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20548

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