tsluver247
10-07-2006, 05:59 AM
ADMINISTRATION -- FUNDING FOR SCHOOL VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAMS CUT BY BUSH ADMINISTRATION:
In the past few weeks, the nation has been stunned by the rash of school shootings in Colorado, Wisconsin, and at an Amish schoolhouse in Pennyslvania. The violence has "prompted changes to school safety rules, sparked debate over the availability of guns and prompted a string of academic studies on the causes of stress, depression and violence in young people." Similarly, President Bush said he was "saddened and deeply concerned" about the shootings and will be convening a summit of education and law enforcement experts to discuss federal action that can help communities prevent violence. While this conference is a good step, it comes a bit late. The Bush administration has repeatedly recommended eliminating funding for a federal grant to prevent school violence. Congress has continued to fund it, but at reduced levels. "Funding was $439.2 million in 2001 but has fallen to $346.5 million this year, with $310 million recommended for 2007." Between 1992 and 2002, 261 kids were killed in school. Funding for the federal school violence and substance abuse programs has been spread so thinly "that more than half the nation's school districts receive $10,000 or less per year -- too little to make a difference," according to Bill Modzeleski, who runs the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools in the U.S. Education Department.
In the past few weeks, the nation has been stunned by the rash of school shootings in Colorado, Wisconsin, and at an Amish schoolhouse in Pennyslvania. The violence has "prompted changes to school safety rules, sparked debate over the availability of guns and prompted a string of academic studies on the causes of stress, depression and violence in young people." Similarly, President Bush said he was "saddened and deeply concerned" about the shootings and will be convening a summit of education and law enforcement experts to discuss federal action that can help communities prevent violence. While this conference is a good step, it comes a bit late. The Bush administration has repeatedly recommended eliminating funding for a federal grant to prevent school violence. Congress has continued to fund it, but at reduced levels. "Funding was $439.2 million in 2001 but has fallen to $346.5 million this year, with $310 million recommended for 2007." Between 1992 and 2002, 261 kids were killed in school. Funding for the federal school violence and substance abuse programs has been spread so thinly "that more than half the nation's school districts receive $10,000 or less per year -- too little to make a difference," according to Bill Modzeleski, who runs the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools in the U.S. Education Department.