DISTRICT 54 CANCELS DARE PROGRAM

The Public Safety Committee in Schaumburg unanimously agreed to cancel
the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program in School District
54 for lack of results and to bolster street patrol duty.

The vote was Dec. 11 and became effective this week, said Richard
Casler, Schaumburg director of police operations.

Casler said the need to cut such less critical programs was driven by
a tightening budget, and the police officer released from DARE will
join the traffic control unit at $116,000 a year in salary and benefits.

In a report to committeemen, Casler said DARE was a popular program
and provided students with a positive role model in knowing DARE officers.

Founded in 1983 in Los Angeles, DARE officers lead classroom lessons
on how to resist peer pressure and drug use. More than 80 percent of
U.S. school districts use DARE, according to a report from the State
University of New York that Casler provided.

The report stated DARE was not productive because it was "based on
out-dated theories of learning and human behavior, it fails to
distinguish between legal substances and illegal drugs, it views all
use (even by adults) as abuse and it presents a view of substance use
inconsistent with that most students see in their own
environment."

However, Casler said, "Numerous studies over several years don't
support the effectiveness of DARE.."

He also said he discussed its cancellation with Ed Rafferty, School
District 54's superintendent.

"(Rafferty) understood and he is okay with it," Casler said.