This report, a letter to the Chairman of the Education Task Force of the Committee on the Budget of the United States Senate, summarizes work the General Accounting Office (GAO) has completed from 1990 through 1997 addressing early childhood, elementary, and secondary education issues. The GAO has identified the need for improvement in the Department of Education's management and oversight of education programs. A major weakness that has been identified is the lack of evaluations of program effectiveness and information about what works. Reports also addressed issues involving the design and implementation of management tools, such as controls on states' substitution of federal grant money for their own funding, allocation and accountability with respect to block grants, and mechanisms for identifying ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of tax expenditures as tools to achieve federal program objectives. Other studies have addressed demographic changes and their implications for preschools and elementary and secondary schools in the areas of early childhood education, education reform efforts, school facilities, and efforts to improve access and equity. The discussion of GAO reports is organized into the following themes: (1) management of preschool through grade 12 programs; (2) demographics; (3) early childhood programs; (4) access and equity (financial equity); (5) education reforms; and (6) school facilities. Work and conclusions related to each theme are summarized. Pertinent GAO reports are listed. (SLD)