of congressional interest. This year, Education plans to conduct over 50 

 compliance reviews on issues related to special education and 

 accommodations for the disabled. Officials told us that they are not 

 conducting any compliance reviews involvmg Title IX this year. In addition 

 to the requirement that Education conduct its own compUance reviews, 

 Education has agreements with 17 other agencies to conduct compliance 

 reviews of educational institutions under Title IX as well as other civil 

 rights laws. However, Education officials stated that performing 

 compliance reviews for other agencies was never feasible and that 

 Education has informed those agencies that it could not conduct these 

 reviews for them." 



Energy, NASA, and NSF officials reported that they have not conducted 

 any Title IX comphance reviews of their grantees. Energy officials 

 reported that they have provided their field office staff with guidance on 

 conducting comphance reviews and that many field office staff attended 

 training on comphance reviews offered by Justice. Energy officials also 

 told us that they have conducted site visits to several field offices to 

 determine if comphance reviews were being done, but found that no 

 comphance reviews have been conducted, primarily due to resource 

 constraints. While NASA has an agreement with Education for Education 

 to conduct compliance reviews, neither Education nor NASA has 

 conducted reviews of NASA's grantees. Recognizmg this, NASA has begim 

 to take steps toward ensuring that comphance reviews are conducted on 

 their grantees. NASA officials reported that they are developing a 

 comphance review program and have requested comphance information 

 from all of their grantees. Officials reported that they are in the process of 

 reviewing grantee responses to systematically ascertain tf grantees are in 

 comphance, identify problem areas, and assist ui targeting grantees for 

 possible on-site comphance reviews. Officials at NSF reported that a lack 

 of funding and staff precludes development of a comphance review 

 program. (See table 1.) 



"These agreements cover several civil rights laws, including Title VI, Title IX, and Section 

 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 504 protects individuals from discrimination 

 based on their disability. The nondiscrimination requirements of the law apply to 

 employers and organizations that receive financial assistance from any federal department 

 or agency. Section 504 forbids organizations and employers from excluding or denying 

 individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to receive program benefits and services. 

 It defines the rights of individuals with disabilities to participate in, and have access to, 

 program benefits and services. 



Page 12 GAO-04-639 Gender Issues 



