D.A.R.E.'S BITES OUT OF BUDGET WORTH COST, EDWARDS SAYS

Little by little, Clarke County Sheriff Ira Edwards is scraping up money to
continue a program he holds close to his heart.

Edwards just received a $15,000 grant from Gov. Roy Barnes' discretionary
fund to help support the county's Drug Abuse Resistance Education
(D.A.R.E.) program.

The voluntary program, used in fifth- and seventh-grade classrooms in
Clarke County, is designed to teach children about the hazards of drugs and
provides incentives like T-shirts and skating parties to foster an
anti-drug attitude.

The course is taught in one class period each week, for 17 weeks, and is in
80 percent of the nation's schools, according to Edwards.

The national D.A.R.E. curriculum, criticized as ineffective by groups like
the National Academy of Sciences, lost its $45,000 allocation in June when
the Athens-Clarke County Commission slashed it from its budget.

Since then, Edwards, a former D.A.R.E. officer, has received nearly $11,000
from the Clarke County School District, allocated almost $5,000 from his
own budget -- mostly extra money from his office supplies fund -- and has
four deputies volunteering their time in local schools, thereby saving the
cost of employees.

Edwards will still need to find extra money to fund the program for the
rest of the year. For Edwards, the cost of the program -- nearly $50,000 --
is a low price to pay.

"Right now, my jail is overcrowded. About 60 or 70 percent of the crime is
drug-related," said Edwards. "We can't just sweep this under the rug."

Edwards expressed dismay that statistics have been the fodder for criticism
of the D.A.R.E. program.

"Numbers do not mean anything," said Edwards. "I'm basing success off
lives. When I see people in the streets, they say 'Hello, Officer Edwards.'
We are letting kids know officers are good people. If we save one person,
that is enough."

D.A.R.E. officer Kenneth Straughter is in county schools almost every day.
Monday, he taught at Barnett Shoals Elementary School, and said that in his
last class of the day, all but three children said they had family members
who had been involved in some sort of criminal activity.

"The only time they hear about police is when the police have shot
somebody, or are taking their mom or dad out of the house," said
Straughter. "Here we can be a positive role model. I have parents who call
me and ask me to come over and talk to their children."

Indeed, County Commissioner Harry Sims, a Barrow Elementary School
fifth-grade teacher, was against cutting D.A.R.E. funding.

"The program is not just anti-drugs," said Sims. "It enhances
problem-solving skills and teaches children to stay away from violence."

Straughter and Edwards are already thinking about funding for the future.

"It's embarrassing when your own county doesn't back it (the D.A.R.E.
program)," said Straughter. "It's like they don't care."

Edwards said he will ask the county commission and the school board to help
fund the program again next year.