Comments on: Feds cut violence prevention funds for schools

By: Oakland Resident

Oakland Resident — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:06:18 +0000

After looking at ed.gov discretionary grant opportunities, I do not see a new grant opportunity listed for violence prevention curriculum/programs.

The only competitive grant that I see from the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (Title IV) that would be applicable for our District is for the reduction of alcohol abuse (which is also very important).

Am I missing something?

By: Katy Murphy

Katy Murphy — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:09:51 +0000

And I have three answers, straight from the director of OUSD’s instructional services, Mary Buttler.

Buttler writes:

1) I do know about the new grant opportunity. We are writing a grant and hope to be funded. For many years the Title IV funding came to the district as an allocation. It is now a competitive grant as I suspect the Federal Government does not have enough funding to give all schools a realistic allocation. We wrote several grants last year and were not funded but received high marks on the grant document. The level that the Federal government can fund at is really low.

2) Yes…. The Federal government requires the Evidence Based curriculum as part of the LEA plan.(Local Education Agency = district)

3) AB 1113 State Violence prevention funding is distributed by the District in multiple divisons. I have a certain amount and do not know where the other funding is. I suspect [the chief services officer] has it for her work with the FCO and the Restorative Justice initiative.

By: emily

emily — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:00:34 +0000

Hi Katy:

I have two questions:

1)The U.S. Department of Ed has been forcasting a grant opportunity under Safe and Drug Free Schools entitled “Improving the Climate for Learning”. I was assuming that this funding source was going to replace the Safe Schools/Healthy Students funding initiative implemented under the Bush administration which provided significant funds to school districts for violence prevention programming for chidlren ages 0-5 through high school. Do you know if this projected funding source will be impacted by this elimination?

2)Are the eliminated funds the safe schools dollars districts recieve to support provision of evidenced based school wide violence prevention curriculum (a program which has been mandated by the CDE)?

By: union Supporter-But

union Supporter-But — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:54:24 +0000

Katy:

While many schools were using funds for conflict resolution, caring and citizenship programs which do decrease violence and increase empathy; other schools were using the money for the “DARE” -Drug Awareness and Resistance Education – which has been proven over two decades to INCREASE drug use of students in high school who participated when they were younger.

Programs that are proven to work should be funded, but programs, even those that many constituents love, but do not work should not be funded.