DRUG TESTING FOR HAWAII TEACHERS REJECTED

KAHUKU -- The state Board of Education last night voted against
funding a new drug-testing program for public school teachers, saying
it would take money from educational programs.

Some board members expressed reservations about whether teachers
should be subject to random drug tests at all.

Board members called on Gov. Linda Lingle, who insisted on including
the provision in the teacher contract last year, or the Legislature
to fund the program.

"I think it's more important for us to use these funds in the
classroom," BOE chairwoman Donna Ikeda said. "Let the governor, who
was adamant in putting this in the contract, to come up with the
funds for the program."

The board said it would revisit the issue at its February meeting.

The board last night voted 7-0 against a motion to use $400,000 from
the Department of Education budget to set up the drug-testing
program. A much larger sum would be needed to actually run the tests.
One estimate put the cost at $200 per test.

The latest state teachers contract, ratified in May 2007, includes a
provision that allows for random drug testing of Hawai'i's 13,500
public school teachers. The contract was ratified by 61 percent of
the union's members.

The American Civil Liberties Union last September sent a letter to
Lingle demanding the state halt plans to randomly drug-test public
school teachers, saying it would violate their constitutional right to privacy.

At last night's BOE meeting at Kahuku High & Intermediate School,
several people spoke against the program, saying it was unnecessary
and unconstitutional.

Graham Boyd, an attorney for the ACLU, said that other random drug
programs were not effective in identifying problems and this one
would be a waste of money as well as being unconstitutional. After
the vote he said it was an excellent result but that the issue isn't over.

"What was very clear to me is this board is uncomfortable with the
idea of drug testing and also taking the money out of student
support," Boyd said.

Robin Fancy, who had been a school librarian on Lana'i, said the
testing program is unnecessary and insulting to teachers. Fancy lost
her job because of budget cuts, the library lost its program funding
and the librarian spends her own money to buy supplies, Fancy said.

"We need money to go back into the schools and restore lost
positions," said Fancy, who is interning at Pauoa Elementary School
while finishing work on a master's degree.

Department of Education Superintendent Pat Hamamoto said the
department was prepared to use the $400,00 from its Impact Aid fund,
but all that would have paid for is the program's protocols and
training. More money would be needed to sustain the testing and that
was not included in the supplemental budget submitted by the Lingle
administration, she said.

"We need some assurance that this is something we can sustain,
otherwise we'll be pulling funding from other programs," Hamamoto
said. "As superintendent I believe the (classroom) programs we have
in the department are critical to our movement to creating 21st
century graduates."

Drug testing for teachers became an issue following several
high-profile cases that included the arrests of four teachers on
drug-related charges.

Leilehua High School teacher Lee Anzai, arrested in October 2006 and
charged with selling crystal methamphetamine, pleaded guilty to a
single count of selling the drug and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Two months later, two Mililani Middle School teachers were arrested
for allegedly smoking marijuana before they showed up for work on a
Monday morning. Each pleaded no contest to the petty misdemeanor charge.

Last October Ka'elepulu Elementary School resource teacher Bronwyn
Kugle was sentenced to 37 months in prison for multiple drug
offenses, including conspiring to distribute 1 kilogram of cocaine
and more than 1,089 Ecstasy tablets.