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Federal funding dropping for school violence prevention |
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By The Associated Press
Since 2001, federal funding for a grant program that helps U.S. schools pay for programs to prevent substance abuse and violence has declined from $439.2 million to about $346.5 million this year and $310 million recommended for 2007.
The Bush administration has recommended eliminating the program, though Congress has repeatedly rejected the administration's proposed cuts and voted to retain the program.
The Office of Management and Budget rated the program as ineffective several years ago. Evidence did not show the program was changing students' behavior to reduce violence and substance abuse, said Bill Modzeleski, who runs the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools in the U.S. Education Department.
Problems include spreading funding so thinly that more than half the nation's school districts receive $10,000 or less per year — too little to make a difference, Modzeleski said.
Officials are working on ways to change the program to produce better results, Modzeleski said. Meanwhile, he said, other federal, state and local programs have shown results reducing violence and substance abuse in schools.
Between 1992-2002, there were 261 people ages 5-19 killed at school, according to federal statistics. The worst years saw 34 deaths (1992-1993 and 1997-98) and the lowest total was 12 in the 2000-01 school year.
The National School Safety and Security Services consulting firm based in Cleveland said the number of deaths in school-related shootings has ranged from three (2002-03) to 24 (2004-05) in each year since 1999. It does not track cases before Columbine.
With 52 million children in school buildings 180 days per year, Modzeleski said, "that's a lot of opportunity for things to go wrong."
"Schools are basically safe places," he said.
Colorado was slated to receive about $3.8 million from the grant program this year, down from about $4.8 million in 2001.
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