New York state needs to improve the way it monitors how districts and others spend their American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars, the U.S. Department of Education’s office of the inspector general reported last week.
The Nov. 10 report notes that the state did not verify districts’ reporting of how they spent their Title I aid or money for students in special education before it made reimbursements. It recommended that New York revamp its monitoring to make sure that funds for districts are administered properly, among other steps.
The New York state department of education said in response that the Education Departments recommendations would require fundamental changes in the way the state administers federal grants that could delay the receipt of much-needed stimulus dollars.
