My more serious reservations pertain to his general approach of solving problems that vex U.S. schools by calling for yet more studies, more experts, more funding. Schools would be much improved simply by applying what is already well known. Sherman is on target when he shows how and why the current Safe and Drug-Free Schools program is failing. He cites several painful examples of how program monies have been spent wastefully. Some schools used funds for excursions to Disneyland, others for fishing trips and baseball games.
Uniformed policemen visit schools and warn students about the hazards of drugs.
The trouble is it does not work. Get their ideas about other ways the game might be played. No talk was heard of control groups or randomized field testing. Somewhere today children are playing Circle of Friends. Unfortunately, its approach is not atypical, and it shows how badly Sherman's reforms are needed.