AUSTIN – Commissioner of Education Mike Morath announced today that a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting has been awarded to the Texas Permanent School Fund for its comprehensive annual financial report for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2016. This marks the third consecutive year that the Permanent School Fund’s annual report has received this national recognition.

Awarded by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA), the Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting. GFOA representatives say the certificate represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management. 

“Strong and effective management of the Permanent School Fund continues to benefit schoolchildren across our state,” said Commissioner Morath. “This national recognition over multiple years reflects an ongoing commitment to professionally manage the Fund while providing transparency for taxpayers.”

The Texas Permanent School Fund was created with a $2 million appropriation by the Texas Legislature in 1854 expressly for the benefit of the public schools of Texas and has grown tremendously over the years. It is the largest educational endowment in the country. The State Board of Education oversees the investment of the Permanent School Fund.

“The non-paid elected State Board of Education is proud of the work it has done to preserve, protect and grow this important endowment,” said David Bradley, chair of the State Board of Education Committee on School Finance and Permanent School Fund. “The annual report documents the work of the board and the Fund’s staff to provide valuable financial resources to both our neighborhood public schools and our growing charter school programs.” 

The Permanent School Fund’s comprehensive annual financial report was judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program, including demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the financial report.

The GFOA is a non-profit professional association serving approximately 17,500 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago and Washington D.C. Details of recent Certificate of Achievement recipients and other information about the program are available on the GFOA website at www.gfoa.org.

To view the Texas Permanent School Fund’s comprehensive annual report for the fiscal year ending Aug.31, 2016, visit http://tea.texas.gov/Finance_and_Grants/Texas_Permanent_School_Fund/Texas_Permanent_School_Fund_-_Annual_Report.