A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The cost of a ship's crew is the single largest incurred over the ship's life cycle. One way to lower personnel costs, and thus the cost of ownership, is to use people only when it is cost-effective--a determination made with a systems engineering approach called human systems integration. GAO was asked to evaluate the Navy's progress in optimizing the crew size in four ships being developed and acquired: the DD(X) destroyer, T-AKE cargo ship, JCC(X) command ship, and LHA(R) amphibious assault ship. GAO assessed (1) the Navy's use of human systems integration principles and goals for reducing crew size, and (2) the factors that may impede the Navy's use of those principles."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Constructing, improving, and repairing roads is fundamental to meeting the nation's mobility needs. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) supplies most of the money (about $20 billion in fiscal year 2003), and state departments of transportation are primarily responsible for completing projects. Many federal and state agencies (called resource agencies) help ensure that environmental and other concerns are considered. These and other organizations have recognized that the time it takes to complete complex federally funded highway projects is too long--in some cases nearly 20 years. GAO was asked to report the views of knowledgeable officials on the most promising approaches for reducing completion time for federally funded highway projects. GAO obtained the views of 33 officials from federal, state, and private organizations with interests in federally funded roads."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs provide millions of children with low-cost or free nutritious meals each school day. In school year 1996-97, the Department of Agriculture instituted more stringent requirements for the nutritional content of school meals. GAO was asked to study the school food service revenues and expenses and how they have changed since the requirements went into effect. This report includes information on the sources of revenues available for providing meals, the expenses of producing meals, the revenues compared to expenses, and the approaches that local school food authorities have adopted to manage their school food service finances. It uses data from six selected states. This report does not provide specific information on the expense of producing a reimbursable school lunch or breakfast."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 2000, Congress required the Department of Defense (DOD) to report quarterly on the services' expenditures for consultants in support of the military family housing privatization programs. GAO was asked to review the costs of the consultants DOD used to support privatizing housing for servicemembers and their families. This report discusses (1) the number of family housing units the services have privatized, particularly newly constructed or renovated units, and project to be privatized by fiscal year 2005; (2) the portion of privatization support costs used for consultants; (3) the services' consistency in the definition for privatization support and consultant costs; and (4) factors that limit an evaluation of how consultant fees for the military housing initiative compare among the services."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2001, the federal government collected $7.5 billion in royalties from the sale of oil and gas produced on federal lands. Although most oil and gas companies pay royalties in cash, the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) has the option to take a percentage of the oil and gas produced and either transfer this percentage to other federal agencies or to sell this percentage itself--known as "taking royalties in kind." GAO reviewed the extent to which MMS has taken royalties in kind since 1995, the reasons for taking royalties in kind, and MMS's progress in implementing management control over its Royalty-in-Kind Program."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The fees and other costs that investors pay as part of owning mutual fund shares can significantly affect their investment returns. As a result, questions have been raised as to whether the disclosures of mutual fund fees and other practices are sufficiently transparent. GAO reviewed (1) how mutual funds disclose their fees and related trading costs and options for improving these disclosures, (2) changes in how mutual funds pay for the sale of fund shares and how the changes in these practices are affecting investors, and (3) the benefits of and the concerns over mutual funds' use of soft dollars."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 2000 and 2002, Maine and Arizona held the nation's first elections under voluntary programs that offered full state funding for political candidates who ran for legislative and certain statewide offices. The goals of these programs, passed as ballot initiatives by citizens in these states, included increasing electoral competition and curbing increases in the cost of campaigns. Congress has considered legislation for public financing of congressional elections nearly every session since 1956, although no law has been enacted. In the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (P.L. 107-155 (2002)), Congress mandated that GAO study the results of the unique public financing programs in Maine and Arizona. For the 2000 and 2002 elections in Maine and Arizona, this report provides: (1) statistics on the number of candidates who chose to campaign with public funds and the number who were elected; and (2) observations, based on limited data, regarding the extent to which the goals of the public funding programs were met."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to legislative direction, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), now part of the Department of Homeland Security, plans to acquire and deploy an entry exit system to assist in monitoring the flow of foreign nationals in and out of the United States. By separate legislative direction, INS must submit to the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations a plan for this system that meets certain conditions, including being reviewed by GAO, before funds can be obligated. This report satisfies GAO's mandated review obligation by (1) addressing whether the plan submitted by INS, along with related INS documentation and plans, meets required conditions and (2) providing observations about the plan and INS's management of the system."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Department of Defense (DOD) spending on service contracts approaches $100 billion annually, but DOD's management of services procurement is inefficient and ineffective and the dollars are not always well spent. Recent legislation requires DOD to improve procurement practices to achieve savings. Many private companies changed management practices based on analyzing spending patterns and coordinating procurement in order to achieve major savings. This report evaluates five companies' best practices and their conduct and use of "spend analysis" and the extent that DOD can pursue similar practices."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) has focused national attention on increasing accountability for states and school districts to improve student achievement. While increasing accountability, NCLBA also provided states and school districts with additional flexibility. The act established two flexibility demonstration programs--State- and Local-Flex--which allow up to 7 states and 80 school districts to redirect up to 100 percent of certain NCLBA program funds. GAO was asked to determine factors that affect states' and districts' decisions whether or not to apply for the demonstration programs and to determine the extent to which the U.S. Department of Education publicized, provided guidance, and established a process to review and award flexibility demonstration programs. To address these questions, GAO conducted a study, using telephone interviews with officials in 22 states and 37 school districts, and site visits to 2 of the four applicants."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congressional requesters asked GAO to provide information on actions that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has taken to facilitate the effective use of human capital flexibilities throughout the federal government and what additional actions OPM might take in this regard. These flexibilities represent the policies and practices that an agency has the authority to implement in managing its workforce."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In the 2001-02 school year, about 6.5 million children aged 3 through 21 received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). On occasion, parents and schools disagree about what kinds of special services, if any, are needed for children and how they should be provided. Conflicts between school officials and families sometimes become costly, both financially and in terms of the harm done to relationships. As requested, GAO determined the kinds of issues that result in formal disputes, the extent to which the three formal mechanisms (due process hearings, mediations, and state complaints) are employed for resolution, the role of mediation and other alternative dispute resolution strategies in selected locations, and whether local education agencies received adequate and timely complaint notifications from states. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed available national data and conducted site visits to state and local education agencies in four states--California, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Texas."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Recent trends in children's health and eating habits are alarming. Over 15 percent of children are overweight--double the rate in 1980. Children's diets are high in fat but low in fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious foods. The National School Lunch Program has had a continuing role in providing students with nutritious meals. However, serving the meals is only the first step. Students must choose to eat the nutritious food and limit the less healthful choices. GAO was asked to report on the extent to which school lunches, nationwide, were meeting nutrition standards, and schools were encouraging healthy eating, what barriers selected schools faced in accomplishing this, and what innovative steps they had taken to overcome the barriers."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In April 2002, at the request of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, we testified on variation in the availability of VA's noninstitutional long-term care services. Congress expressed concern that this variation could mean that some veterans did not have access to noninstitutional services because of gaps in service availability and because of the restrictions that some facilities might place on veterans' use of these services, such as limiting the amount of service a veteran may receive. To address these concerns, we updated and expanded our previous work to determine (1) whether veterans' access to six noninstitutional services is limited by service availability and restrictions on use and (2) if access is limited, what factors, contribute to limited access."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "More than 28 million children receive meals daily through the federal school meal programs. Providing meals that are safe is especially important because young children have a higher risk of complications from some foodborne illnesses. GAO examined (1) the frequency and causes of reported foodborne illness outbreaks associated with the federal school meal programs and (2) the practices that federal, state, and local governments as well as other food providers find useful for safeguarding meals."