GAO Statement on Internal Inspection
WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 8, 2011) The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) today sent to Congressional requesters the results of an internal inspection to determine why the agency needed to make changes to an August report on for-profit schools (GAO-10-948T).
The inspection was conducted by GAOs Managing Director for Quality and by the Deputy Ethics Officer. The results indicate there was no personal bias or conflict of interest by those involved in writing the report, however there were process, supervisory and analytical weaknesses that led to errors and missing context. The report finds those errors were corrected in the revised report, or errata, that GAO issued last November. The report is an internal inspection and will not be publicly released by GAO but was provided to Members of Congress who have written to GAO about the work.
We were pleased to see that the inspection showed the revised report was fully supportable and there was no bias or conflict of interest at all involved in the work. We continue to stand by the overall message of our report and we have no plans to withdraw it, said Chuck Young, Managing Director of GAO Public Affairs. However we are concerned that there were weaknesses in some of the quality assurance steps taken that ultimately required GAO to issue some corrections to the report to provide more precision and context. Our goal is to never have to issue revisions. As a result of this internal review we are immediately implementing the reviewers recommendations to tighten up our process to ensure such issues do not occur again.
For more information contact Chuck Young at 202-512-4800.
The Government Accountability Office, known as the investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities. GAO also works to improve the performance of the federal government and ensure its accountability to the American people. The agency examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAOs commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and reliability.