Schools: Anti-Drug Program Under Fire

BOE WILL NOT FUND TEACHER DRUG TESTS

The state Board of Education voted last night not to fund a plan to
drug test public school teachers, casting doubts as to whether the
program will be able to start by a June 30 deadline required in a new contract.

Board members voted 7-0 to reject a motion calling for some $400,000
to pay for the random and reasonable-suspicion drug tests each year
of as many as 3,250 teachers, or one in four employees.

Several board members called the testing "an unfunded mandate" and
criticized Gov. Linda Lingle's administration for failing to include
money to pay for the testing in her request to the Legislature.

"Let her fund it," said board member Breene Harimoto, who said the
program was "offensive."

Lingle has argued that the Department of Education has enough money
in its $2 billion-plus budget to fund drug testing.

The state made drug testing of teachers a non-negotiable demand
during talks with the Hawaii State Teachers Association, which
represents about 13,000 teachers. Though the program was met with
some resistance, 61.3 percent of the more than 8,000 union members
voted in May to ratify a nearly $120 million contract giving them 4
percent raises in the current and next school years.

The drug tests were proposed in reaction to six drug-related arrests
of Education Department employees over seven months beginning in October 2006.

Before their vote the board heard from two Department of Education
employees opposed to the drug tests, saying it would pull away money
from educational programs.

"In opposing this random drug-testing policy, some people ask me
whether I have something to hide," said Tony Turbeville, a math
teacher at Kawananakoa Middle School. "I tell them that I have
nothing to hide but I do have something to protect: my constitutional
right to be free from unreasonable searches. I am a teacher. I have
a duty to teach my students that they have to stand up for their rights."

The American Civil Liberties Union also is threatening to sue the
state if the program moves forward, claiming it would violate
teachers' privacy rights under the Fourth Amendment. The ACLU says
more than 200 teachers feel they were forced to agree to drug testing
to get a pay hike.

"The courts have all held that it would not be legal," said Graham
Boyd, director of the ACLU's drug law reform project.

Board members could still revisit the funding of the drug tests in
future meetings, said Chairwoman Donna Ikeda.

"But I'm firm on it," she said about her vote.