government programs

["bill london" <bill_london@hotmail.com>]

Tom Trail's legislative update, and the on-going debate about using tax 
money to fund social welfare programs, suggested to me the underlying 
issue of the efficiency of such government programs.
Republicans (and now many Democrats) are so fond of saying that such 
government-sponsored interventions and opportunities are wastes of 
money, pouring money down a rat hole, etc...
Well, here's an example of the incredible efficiency of such a 
government program.  The program at WSU, called SMART, targetted 14 and 
15 year olds (a very important and vulnerable age) and thus was unable 
to show immediate results of significance.  So the funding was 
eliminated.  But it turns out, note the folks who followed the 
educational careers of those kids, that the SMART program--or 
something--turned their lives around.  Which ultimately saved the state 
uncounted dollars in other crime and welfare payments.
Anyway, here's a short news release on the subject:
--
Contact: Bill London, 509/335-7091 or london@wsu.edu
	Geoff Wood, 509/335-1875
	Christine McElroy, 360/753-6760

SMART Pays Off

	A work-and-study program for 14 and 15 year-olds at Washington State 
University's College of Education, entitled Summer Motivation Academic 
Residential Training or SMART, has produced "remarkable" results, 
according to Christine McElroy, program administrator at the Washington 
Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).
	According to data collected by OSPI, 97 percent of the approximately 
500 students enrolled in SMART from 1988 to 1992 in Washington have 
graduated from high school.
	"This is especially remarkable because the students selected for SMART 
were in jeopardy of dropping out of school and were identified as 
unmotivated by their teachers," McElroy said. 
 	The SMART program operated from 1988 to 1990 at Western Washington 
University and at the University of Washington, and from 1990 to 1992 at 
WSU and those two other universities.  At WSU, the program was directed 
by Geoff Wood.  After 1992, funding was removed and the program ended.
	"SMART was one of the most effective programs I ever worked with," 
McElroy said.  "We caught kids at an important age, 14 and 15.  It was 
important to get them on a college campus and working meaningful jobs 
for 4 hours daily."



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