TEACHERS AND ACLU WARN THE GOVERNOR

Educators Dispute That Pay Raises Are Tied To Drug Testing

A group of public school teachers called on Gov. Linda Lingle
yesterday to retract her statement that implied that there will be no
teacher pay raises if mandatory drug testing is not
implemented.

American Civil Liberty Union officials joined teachers in delivering a
letter to the Governor's Office that said Lingle was "legally
inaccurate" in a statement after a Jan. 24 Board of Education vote
against funding the drug testing. The testing was included in the
contract signed last year.

"One side cannot breach a contract, then make the other side pay for
it," said Richard Miller, retired professor and former dean of the
University of Hawaii Richardson School of Law. "There is no basis for
taking away their raises simply because there is an argument between
the Board of Education and the administration."

Lingle was not in her office when the letter was delivered. "She never
made a statement that the pay raise would be withheld," said her
spokesman Russell Pang. "What she said was the drug-testing provision
is part of the contract and needs to be implemented."

Lingle told reporters at a Jan. 25 press conference, "We cannot
effectuate this contract unless the conditions are carried out,"
referring to the drug program that state negotiators added as a
non-negotiable item in bargaining talks.

A majority of teachers ratified the contract that provided 4 percent
in pay increases during two years.

The ACLU is representing some teachers who challenge the
constitutionality of random mandatory drug tests.

"The Constitution protects us from unreasonable searches of our
person," said Tony Turbeville, a seventh-grade teacher at Kawananakoa
Middle School. "Random testing is an assault on our fundamental
constitutional rights. Open this door and we may never be able to shut
it."

For teachers to be targeted for drug testing "is humiliating and
degrading and extremely disrespectful," said Debbie Shirai, a
sixth-grade teacher at Keonepoko Elementary School on the Big Island.

The letter to the governor said: "You are legally forbidden from
claiming that a disputed portion of the agreement renders it entirely
invalid.

"If the Board of Education or any other state entity blocks funding
for teacher drug testing, the rest of the contract, including your
promise to pay teachers' salaries, remains in full force."

ACLU Executive Director Vanessa Chong said more than 200 teachers have
contacted the agency about challenging the drug-testing requirement in
court.

The Board of Education unanimously rejected a Department of Education
supplemental budget request to seek $523,723 from the Legislature to
hire five workers and buy computer equipment for the drug program.
Officials have said the cost of conducting tests will be at least
double that amount.

"The ACLU continues to say it is a poor use of taxpayers' dollars when
we are crying out to improve our classrooms, buy supplies, and
scratching our heads to where the next generation of teachers will
come from," Chong said.

Pang said, "We are waiting for the Thursday BOE meeting, when they
said they will revisit the issue."