End the D.A.R.E. Program

Copy of a media release recently distributed by the Haap on Board campaign.

(Cincinnati) - Jason Haap, the Green Party candidate for Cincinnati School Board, has called on the current board and City Hall leaders to end the D.A.R.E. program in the public schools.  Haap points to a City web page that claims the D.A.R.E. program is active in over 40 CPS schools.  He also says inquiries to the district regarding D.A.R.E. have gone unanswered.

“The D.A.R.E. program represents a pointless, and unnecessary waste of both tax dollars and police resources,” said Haap.  “Research shows the D.A.R.E. program does nothing to reduce drug use later in life.”

Haap’s claims reference the Government Accountability Office’s most recent report on D.A.R.E. from 2003.

“All of the evaluations suggested that DARE had no statistically significant long-term effect on preventing youth illicit drug use,” the report states.

“There are tons of materials out there which should cause anyone to question the efficacy of the D.A.R.E. program,” said Haap.  “Instead of falling for a public relations campaign, we should focus on what works.  If anyone wants children to receive effective drug abuse education, research shows they don’t get it with D.A.R.E.”

Haap says he thinks drug abuse education belongs in the regular health education curriculum.  He has sent several inquiries to the district requesting information on the health curriculum, but his inquiries are currently unanswered.

“When elected to the school board, I will work to make sure the district acts with transparency whenever the pubic has legitimate questions about curriculum,” said Haap.

—————Forwarded message—————
From: Jason Haap
Date: Sun, Sep 13, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Subject: D.A.R.E. Program Inquiry
To: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), “Berding, Jeff”, “Bortz, Chris”, Chris Monzel, David Crowley, “Ghiz, Leslie”, “Thomas, Cecil”, “Cole, Laketa”, “Harris, Greg” , “Qualls, Roxanne”

Dear Cincinnati School Board Members, Mayor Mark Mallory, and City Council:

A couple weeks ago, I sent a message to the CPS Customer Service email, asking for information about the D.A.R.E. program.  I received one response from Tracy Stillwell-Emery, who requested I call her, but we apparently keep the same business hours—and she has not responded to my emails.  I presume she was responding to my inquiry, but I can’t know for certain.

According to the City of Cincinnati web page, the City is actively pursuing the D.A.R.E. program in the public schools:

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/police/pages/-7843-/

From that link:

DARE Squad, supervised by a sergeant, is responsible for implementing and coordinating the DARE program. Kindergarten through eighth grade classes are instructed by police officers in all Cincinnati public schools and selected private schools. Fundamental courses are given to kindergarten through fourth grade students. The core of the program is taught to fifth grade students and upon successful completion they graduate from the DARE course. Reinforcement classes are then given to students in grades six through eight.

I presume this is up-to-date information, as it currently resides on the City’s servers.  If so, this represents an amazing revelation, depending on how this program is implemented—but no possibilities I can predict are acceptable.

There are over 40 schools that include grades within the ranges to receive D.A.R.E. instruction according to this paragraph.  Does this instruction get delivered regularly, or through sporadic pull-out programs?  Let’s consider each in turn.

If this content is delivered regularly, there must be lots of officers spending time at least weekly visiting over 40 schools.  Such would represent an amazing drain on police man-hours.  When facing the kinds of frenzy our City has seen over police resources, why in the world should we spend this much time taking police off the streets?

If this content is not delivered regularly, then what is the point?  Education concerning drugs and abuse should be part of the health education curriculum, and as such it should be delivered by regular classroom instructors with whom the children already have a relationship.

I have seen annual Council Items authorizing state funds to subsidize the D.A.R.E. program, for various amounts.  How much money is spent on this program by the City?  How much from State funds?  Is this the most effective use of our police force and tax dollars?

Does CPS spend any money on this?  If so, for what reason?  Why not have content delivered via the more appropriate health curriculum?  If not, does CPS wish to continue draining police man-hours for a questionable program?

Are you familiar with this report from the Government Accountability Office?  http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03172r.pdf

It has documented that D.A.R.E. has no measurable effects at reducing drug use.

Therefore, I’m calling on the School Board and City Hall to end the pointless, wasteful, and unnecessary D.A.R.E. program in the public schools.  Government research has found it ineffective, and it represents a totally unnecessary waste of both police and educational resources.

If we are interested in better drug education, we should use programs that research has found effective—not programs which have political PR campaigns but absolutely no data to support them.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to studying your replies.

Respectfully,

Jason Haap
Candidate for Cincinnati School Board