The Collegian

Issue date: 3/28/06 Section: Opinion

Horrific images of the Civil Rights movement in the United States include Emmett Till, hoses, and of course, dogs.

The Sausalito Marin City School District recently attempted to implement a program that would bring drug-sniffing canines into a school. The program was lambasted by community leaders, students, and parents because of the predominately African-American population. The district itself is ninety-percent minority. The majority of white students in the area are enrolled in private schools.

The program has been put on hold. District officials are still striving for the program. The district, like several across the nation, fails to realize that drug dogs are a temporary and degrading solution. The district has the lowest test scores in its county. Drug dogs will not improve that. It is the responsibility of educators and administrators to focus on their students. This is a difficult task when money is being misappropriated; there are no resources for the students or the teachers. How will Interquest, the company that provides the drug dog service, help in providing educational resources? Interquest stands to gain a substantial amount of money while students are set to lose it.

Responsibility in this situation does not only lie with the school. Parents are an integral part of progress in the faltering district. It seems that parents and community leaders were present only after the drug dog proposal was put on the table. It should not take a humiliating and racist policy to get parents involved. They should be in constant communication with the school despite having to deal with a dilapidated community and grueling jobs. School officials need to open up a dialogue and find a way to reach parents rather than adopt such unnecessary programs.

District officials need to abandon their Interquest plan. It is a misappropriation of resources, and a bad example of how a school spends funds. Working with parents and community leaders along with putting that money into student resources are more likely to solve drug problems than policing the school. There was a time in this country when these types of influential people got together and stood for positive change. Instead, they are now at odds with one another. The only way to bring about change is to empower the community of parents and teachers and to employ that energy to take drugs out of the community. If anyone owns a community it is the school and its patrons, not Interquest or small time drug dealers.

The name of the school in question: Martin Luther King Jr. Academy. It is a middle school.

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