HARRISBURG -- The state Department of Education isn't doing enough to keep schools safe, Auditor General Jack Wagner said this afternoon in releasing a performance audit.

The department failed to verify accuracy of violence statistics submitted by schools, did not comply with a state law requiring it to establish an Office of Safe Schools and has issued required school-safety reports up to 14 months late.

"The Department of Education must correct these deficiencies by first taking ownership of its critical responsibility to oversee school safety throughout Pennsylvania," he said.

Mr. Wagner said he has no confidence that safety reports are accurate and says the Department of Education has ignored glaring inconsistencies.

For example, one district with an enrollment of about 17,000 reported 664 incidents of misconduct involving weapons, drugs, sexual offenses or assaults during the 2005-06 school year but reported no arrests. Meanwhile, a slightly smaller district reported just 43 similiar incidents and 42 arrests.

Mr. Wagner refused to identify the districts, saying his audit covers only the Department of Education's actions, not those of individual districts.