THE LOSS OF DARE

Superintendent Dan Dodds' decision to drop the DARE program in Atascadero is
so short-sighted it suggests one of two driving forces.

First, Dodds is out of touch with the DARE program and doesn't realize its
effectiveness. Otherwise, he would never have made the remark, "It was very
hard to employ a police officer over a teacher."

That "police officer" is a teacher with considerable training and knowledge
regarding the subject that will save the taxpayers literally hundreds of
thousands of dollars. Consider the cost of convicting and rehabilitating
just two students whose drug or alcohol addiction leads them into crime or
prevents them from graduating from school. Also, any program other than DARE
will inevitably be second rate given the lack of training colleges of
education devote to the subject.

If Dodds knows this, and the driving force is not ignorance, then what sort
of motive is involved? A desire to punish someone or some group? When our
children lose, then we all lose.

The Atascadero Board of Trustees would be wise to challenge Dodds' decision.

Norm Jackson, Santa Margarita