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BRIEFING PAPER
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Myth-Free Facts about the State Grants Portion of
Safe and Drug Free Schools

Background

The President's FY2010 Budget has called for the termination of the State Grants portion of the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC). The President's budget provides two citations to justify its decision to terminate funding for the State Grants Portion of SDFSC: (1) a 2001 RAND Corporation study, and (2) the 2007 report of the SDFSC Advisory Committee appointed by former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.

Summary

• The State Grants portion of the SDFSC HAS NOT been rated ineffective. It has received the same OMB assessment as 47% of all programs at the US Department of Education (USDE).
  
  
• The 2001 RAND study is out of date. It appeared BEFORE the passage of HR1 (No Child Left Behind), which addressed weaknesses in the program. The principal author of the study admitted neither he nor his co-author “knew much about what was going on in the school room with respect to prevention activities.”
  
  
• The Secretary’s SDFSC Advisory Committee DID NOT recommend the elimination of the States Grant portion. The committee said the State Grants portion is “crucial” to learning and continues to be necessary.
  
  
• Providing all SDFSC funding on a national grant application basis would:
  • Take away local determination
  • Favor school districts with the most clever grant writers
  • Lead to fewer localities receiving funding
    
    
• Funding based on need would be difficult to achieve. The CDC suggests a combination or strategies that mirrors the current makeup of SDFSC.

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