WHAT DO THEY FEAR?

Once again the local papers are abuzz with letters regarding the drug
testing of teachers.

When I was an employee of the Department of Education, I wrote several
letters to this paper and other publications stating that I support
drug testing and have always been and will always be willing to submit
to a random test -- at any time, in any place.

If you don't have anything to hide, then you shouldn't be afraid of
the testing.

In response to letters which claim that the civil rights of teachers
are being violated, I must ask what about the civil rights of our
children in school? Don't they have the right to be taught by a
teacher who is drug-free? Don't they have a right to be told by a
teacher that drugs are bad and know for a fact that the teacher
practices what he or she preaches?

Don't parents have the right to know that their children's classrooms
aren't being used to move drugs and that their children aren't being
exposed to dangerous people associated with drugs?

Considering the correlation between drug use (especially "ice") and
other crimes including assaults, robberies and even sexual crimes,
teachers who indulge in such a lifestyle put children at risk.

Let's remember who is most vulnerable here: the children. After all,
they don't have a union to represent them.

Shawn Lathrop

Waikoloa