Education allocates funds from School-age, Preschool, and Infant Grants  to all states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, based on federal  formulas. School-Age and Preschool Grants Are Similar Except for Age Range Served; Infant Grants Differ

School-age and Preschool Grants share the same goal, performance  objectives, and performance measures; fund the same range of services;  and have similar eligibility requirements except for the age-range served,  while Infant Grants differ from these grants in almost all respects. The key distinction between the two grants is that  School-age grants serve children ages 3 through 21, whereas Preschool  Grants serve only children ages 3 through 5. Whether a local agency receives funds from any one  grant depends on whether it is serving the relevant age group. Since they are not required to track such information, none of  the 19 states we contacted were able to tell us the percentage of School- age Grant funds they used to provide services for children aged 3 through  5, although officials in several states said that the amount was small. Education requires only  that states report the number of children ages 3 through 5 collectively  receiving special education and related services under School-age and  Preschool Grants. The Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study will follow children  who received preschool special education services through their  experience in preschool and early elementary school. At the federal level, there is no administrative overlap  between School-age and Preschool Grants because Education already  administers these grants as if they were one program. May 14, 2001.
What GAO Found

In fiscal year 2001, the federal government spent $7 billion on the following three special education grant programs: Special Education Grants to States (School-age Grants), Special Education Grants Preschool (Preschool Grants) and Special Education Grants for Infants and Families with Disabilities (Infants Grants). School-age and Preschool Grants are similar, except for the age ranges served, while Infant Grants differ in goals, performance objectives, performance measures, eligibility, and services. The key distinction between School-Age and Preschool Grants is that School-age Grants serve children ages three through 21, whereas Preschool Grants serve only children ages three through five. States receive funds from all three grants, and some states report they use both School-age and Preschool funds to provide the same range of services to children aged three through five. Although states receive funds from all three grants, local agencies may receive funds from only one grant, or from all three. Eighteen of the 19 states GAO reviewed reported that the range of services they provide to children ages three through five is the same as those they provide with Preschool Grants. Evaluations show that half the children who received preschool services (mainly speech and language therapy) no longer needed them on reaching school age. Consolidating the two grants would eliminate coordination problems, but it is unclear whether program efficiency would increase. At the federal level, Education is already administering School-age and Preschool Grants as one program. State and local officials said that consolidation would not significantly reduce administrative burden.