Education and Labor

The federal government's $66 billion investment in a host of education, employment training, and worker protection programs is administered largely by the Departments of Education and Labor. This report provides information on the more than 1,100 field offices supporting the Departments of Education and Labor. GAO discusses (1) the locations of the field offices; (2) field office functions, staffing, space, and operating costs; and (3) recent changes in field office structure that the Departments have made, or are planning, to improve efficiency.

GAO found that: (1) in fiscal year 1995, the Department of Education had 72 field offices and the Department of Labor had 1,074 field offices; (2) Labor and Education spent a total of $867 million dollars in support of their field office operations; (3) about 94 percent of Education's field staff and 42 percent of Labor's field staff were located in ten regional cities; (4) Labor had a high concentration of staff in its field offices, reflecting the agency's general responsibilities; (5) the majority of the amount spent in supporting field offices operations was for staff salaries and benefits; and (6) Labor and Education are planning to make changes in their field office structures to improve efficiency and contain administrative costs.