BUSH CUTS THE “SAFE AND DRUG FREE AND

COMMUNITIES PROGRAM”

President Bush released his budget for next year. Like most people in education, I looked for increases in education funding. In the BIG picture, education gets a little bump. But when you look at the fine print, some programs are slated for the chopping block. Before I take you the reader into the depths of detail about how one funding cut will have an effect on Springfield Public Schools, I must remind you that it’s not over until the fat lady sings. In other words, the House of Representatives and the Senate and a joint committee each have to make their own budgets and reach a compromise on the final budget before it’s a done deal.

With that being said, let’s look at one program that has been on the books since 1984. That program is Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities. At the federal level it is currently funded at $440,000,000. The State of Massachusetts receives as its share $8,150,000, and we in Springfield this year received $331,000. The President’s budget has it funded at zero dollars for next year. The explanation given for discontinuing the program is the lack of hard evidence of its effectiveness. In this current culture of increased accountability, if there is no proof, the program gets no money. One might ask how can a program that has been funded for so long and for which we have heard such good things simply be tossed out? The bottom line is: there is no real scientific evidence to justify continuation of the program nationally.

So, how did we use our funds in the schools in Springfield? For a number of years we have been investing in a program called Responsive Classroom. The program supports good classroom management and focuses on the positive efforts of students as they address some of their personal challenges. All elementary schools and several of our parochial schools have teachers trained in this program. Anecdotal reports indicate the program is working. Teachers and principals say that there has been a reduction in inappropriate behavior by many students. We have also used our funding to train some teachers as Crisis Intervention team members. These individuals are trained to de-escalate altercations between students in a safe manner. In the early years, the DARE project was funded by Safe and Drug Free money. Remember the program that had a police officer visit elementary schools and talk to students about why they should not use drugs? Students received badges and made pledges to stay away from drugs and alcohol. Recently, we have also used funding for the Michigan Model in our elementary and high schools. Once again this is a violence prevention and drug awareness curriculum used by the Health Education teachers in every school for all students. And a small, allowable portion of the money was used in the past to buy additional walk-through metal detectors for our high schools.

All of the things we have used our allocation for have been important to the schools in Springfield. Perhaps we don’t have hard, factual evidence to help fight the President’s red pen to this program. But, it seems ironic and sad that with what appears to be increased violence in our city, a decision is being made to cut the very educational program, which might change the behaviors of the future generation. n