Obama Administration Killed “Readiness and Emergency Management” Funding for Schools

December 15, 2012 By Daniel Greenfield 
FRONT PAGE MAGAZINE - "THE POINT"

But who can afford to spend money on school safety when there are bigger priorities like shipping Green Energy money to China and F16s to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

“Our hearts are broken today,” President Barack Obama said, wiping a tear from his eyes as he reacted to the tragedy. “As a country we have been through this too many times.

 “These neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics,” the president added.

But last year, his administration took a less muted tone as it submitted its 2012 Education Department budget to Congress that eliminated the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) funding, which for years provided between $20 million and $30 million in annual grants to help schools create emergency and crisis preparation and prevention plans for tragedies just like the one that unfolded Friday.

The Education Department’s Web site says it last made REMS grants in 2011.

The funding was cut off even though the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, warned in 2007 that many “many school district officials said that they experience challenges in planning for emergencies due to a lack of equipment, training for staff, and expertise and some school districts face difficulties in communicating and coordinating with first responders and parents.”

Likewise, the Justice Department over the last 12 years distributed nearly $1 billion in funding to help schools hire police resource officers, install metal detectors and take other countermeasures to prevent tragedies like the Columbine massacre.

The town of Newtown, Conn., in fact, took advantage of one of these programs in 2000 when it got $125,000 in funds from the COPS in Schools program, Justice Department records show.

But Justice Department officials said the key programs that provided money directly to schools in the aftermath of Columbine have been phased out as of 2012, the last after the 2011 budget year.

.... and just in time too.

About Daniel Greenfield

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. He is completing a book on the international challenges America faces in the 21st century.

Bee's note:

Watching President Obama give his tear-jerking, trembling-voice speech on the day of this mass-murders of our most innocent school children, some people noticed that not a tear was shed, no matter how many times Obama stuck his finger in his eye.  We also wondered, if there were tears, shed for our Ambassador of Libya, when Stevens was tortured and murdered by Islamic terrorists?  Did he shed tears for our Navy Seals in Libya, attempting to save the Ambassador?  Will he aid the families of our American troops, murdered by an Islamist terrorist at Ft. Hood?  (All he has to do is declare the Ft. Hood attack a "terrorist" attack in order to allow the families to receive benefits - is that too much to ask?).  

Some people will say, "Hey, Bee Sting, give the guy a break!  He's a father too and demonstrates great grief over the shootings and loss in Ct.  Put politics aside for a few days!"

That is common sense, if we were talking about rationale people; but, we do not have a rationale president in the White House.  Oh, sure, he managed to slip by for another four years, ... that is no excuse to have this president continue on the same road he's traveled these last four years.  

Case in point: Obama does not weep for the victims murdered by Islamists; however, weeping, knowing the young evil man with no soul who murdered 20 children and 6 teachers, has no ties to the Muslims is much easier for this president.  And, meanwhile, he continues to aid our enemies in the ME, such as Egypt, who will simply aim our "gifted-weapons and planes" directly at our ally Israel, when the time is "right". Aiding the Muslim Brotherhood is NOT in the best interest of the United States, nor of our ally Israel.

When I see an honest man weep, I weep with him; but when a man of questionable character sticks his finger in his eye to show his grief, I find it too difficult to believe - knowing that this tragedy will soon be turned into some type of political gain for this president; such as, more gun control. 

Wait and watch .... listen carefully in the coming days!