The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America is asking Congress today to save a program of federal aid for school antidrug programs that President Obama’s is trying to kill even though he and Vice President Biden fought for it as senators, reports USA Today. Last year, when President Bush asked Congress to stop funding the grants under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities program, Obama, Biden and 35 other senators protested. They signed a letter calling it “the backbone of youth drug prevention” that was “making a difference” for 37 million children.
Obama’s budget calls the program “poorly designed” and cites a 2001 study by the RAND Drug Policy Research Center that found it “profoundly flawed.” The grants are too small to be effective, says William Modzeleski, head of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools in the Education Department. More than half the recipients get less than $10,000, he says. “The inherent flaw in these state grants is it tries to do too much with too little,” Modzeleski says.