Washington, DC: The US Department of Education (DOE) has dramatically reduced the level of funding available to subsidize random student drug testing programs in public high schools and middle schools, according to the agency’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
According to the agency, only $1.7 million in federal funds will be available for schools that wish to enact student drug testing programs for the 2006-2007 school year. Last year, the DOE subsidized student drug testing programs in 350 schools nationwide at a total cost of more than $7 million.
The White House had previously proposed increasing the budget to fund student drug testing programs to more than $25 million.
According to the DOE, grantees will be required to participate in an ongoing national evaluation of the effectiveness of mandatory student drug testing programs.
To date, the only federal study to assess the impact of student drug testing policies on a national basis found that “drug testing, as practiced in recent years in American secondary schools, does not prevent or inhibit student drug use.”
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, or Allen St. Pierre. NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500.