What is the federal government doing to help protect schools?
The unfortunate irony during all this is that federal funds to help schools deal with these basic strategies to make schools safer have been very limited, and, as of this moment, are declining. Funding to reduce violence and substance abuse in schools has fallen from $439 million in 2001 to $346 million in 2006, with just $310 million recommended for 2007. There are grants that are provided by the Department of Education and the Department of Homeland Security to help school districts develop emergency plans, to practice them and to hire security personnel. These are all decreasing now. So, unless there are efforts to really turn this around, we’ll actually have fewer resources to put to this challenge than we’ve had in years past. I think that these are the kind of things that will be addressed by a conference the president is holding next week. The hope is that we’ll get more than just rhetoric, and real dollars will be put on the table to help local school districts do whatever is n
