LINGLE BELIEVES TESTING WILL BE RESOLVED SOON

The Advertiser's editorial on teacher drug testing points to the
common goal of implementing the provision that was agreed to a year
ago by the HSTA, Department of Education, Board of Education and the
state, and which was ratified by teachers.

To grant a 30-day extension beyond the June 30 deadline would only
prolong the implementation.

The DOE and BOE have focused on an unrealistic $500,000
implementation price tag (not including the actual costs of the
tests), which has since grown to include a bureaucracy of nine people.

The governor has asked BOE Chairwoman Donna Ikeda and DOE
Superintendent Pat Hamamoto to look at implementation in a different context.

We know the majority of teachers are not using or selling drugs. That
is why the random nature of drug testing is so important. The random
component serves as a deterrent to let those who use or are tempted
to use drugs know that on any given day, there's a possibility they
can be tested.

Drug testing averages $35 per person. Randomly testing one out of
every 100 teachers each year out of 12,000 statewide, comes to only
120 teachers per year. The costs obviously are significantly lower
than the DOE's estimates.

By focusing on the random element, rather than testing large numbers
of teachers, implementation becomes more manageable, affordable and effective.

The governor is encouraged that the BOE chairwoman and DOE
superintendent agree with this narrower approach, and believes this
matter will be resolved expeditiously.

The Advertiser was incorrect to say the governor used withholding
teacher pay raises as a threat. In fact, she said, "I don't want to
make any threats."

Her goal is to implement random drug testing to give parents,
students and teachers a level of confidence that their school campus
is safe, so everyone can focus on educating our keiki.

Barry Fukunaga Chief of staff, governor's office