Pubdate: Thu, 14 Jul 2005
Source: Des Moines Register (IA)
Copyright: 2005 The Des Moines Register.
Contact:  http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

WRONG TO BEND RULES TO FUND ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM

Legislature Skirted Bidding Process, Abused Taxpayers

In 2001, the federal government stopped funding Rock In Prevention. 
The feds decided the anti-drug charity didn't meet standards for 
effective drug-prevention programs. That should have been a clue to 
Iowa lawmakers to question giving other public dollars to the organization.

Apparently state legislators are clueless.

They agreed to give the group $600,000, courtesy of the taxpayers. 
Iowans are paying for rock 'n' roll concerts for schoolchildren and 
for the group's compact discs. And there's no evidence the program 
reduces drug use by the children who bring the CDs home in their backpacks.

Sound questionable? Well, there's more.

Rock In Prevention bypassed the normal bidding process for publicly 
funded programs. Instead, lawmakers specifically appropriated money 
for a non-specific drug-prevention program that uses music - language 
crafted to funnel money to Rock In Prevention. When the Iowa 
Department of Public Health tried to allow other programs to compete 
for the money, lawmakers put a stop to it by writing a letter to the 
department. They also objected to the department's request for 
research on the program.

Rock In Prevention held out its hand. Friends in the Statehouse 
opened the public's checkbook and delivered the bucks. No requirement 
for proof the program works. No other groups to compete with for the 
money. And no questions asked.

Lawmakers should be ashamed of themselves.

Taxpayers should be furious.

Here are a few reasons why:

Across Iowa, public schools don't have enough counselors to help kids 
through difficult times. These may be the same troubled kids who go 
on to use drugs. In some schools, students don't have enough exposure 
to arts, which might give them a creative outlet to cope with 
problems. In others, class sizes are too large, which gives kids less 
individual time with teachers. And too few high schools offer 
college-prep courses, to help kids get on track for a better future.

Lawmakers underfund the basics of education with one hand and dole 
out money exclusively to an unproven program with the other.

Rock In Prevention is well-intentioned and popular with kids. But 
good intentions shouldn't be enough to give a person or program 
access to public coffers. And no one should gain that access without 
going through the proper channels of bidding for that money.
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MAP posted-by: Beth