TESTING TEACHERS FOR DRUGS MIGHT BE WORTH BATTLE

The Clarke County School District could vote next month on an
expanded drug-testing
policy that would require drug tests for all new employees, including teachers,
beginning in July 2007. The new policy also would require security personnel
and employees who hold commercial drivers' licenses to submit to random drug
testing, which currently is done only with school bus drivers.

Beyond that, the new policy would require any school district employee, again
including teachers, to submit to a drug test if there is reasonable suspicion
they are impaired by illegal drugs or alcohol. At least one area
school superintendent
told the Athens Banner-Herald for a Monday story, "Drug-testing policy could
lead to lawsuits," that the policy could serve as a model for other
school systems
in the region - if it survives the legal challenges likely in store.

The Georgia Association of Educators has, in fact, threatened to sue the school
district if it adopts the policy.

Beyond that, a staff attorney for the National School Board Association said
courts could question whether mandatory testing for new hires violates those
employees' rights, and a former president of the National Council of School
Board Attorneys said the Fourth Amendment, which provides protection against
unreasonable searches and seizures, prohibits drug testing of
government employees
like teachers.

So there are clear indications the new policy could prove problematic. But
it might just represent a legal battle worth fighting, particularly in light
of Clarke County School District attorney Terrell Benton's indication
in Monday's
story that the proposed policy balances employees' rights with the issue of
school safety.

There are, of course, some clear advantages to adding security
personnel - particularly
those who might carry firearms in the course of their duties - to the list of
employees subject to random drug testing.

The same thing goes for employees with commercial drivers' licenses and for
bus drivers.

In all three instances, drug abuse carries a clear and present danger of injury
or even death for students, school district personnel and the general public.
That clear and present danger is a bit harder to see in connection
with teachers,
but it is there, nonetheless. Teachers have lengthy access each day to this
community's children, access that is often outside the scope of
direct supervision
of school-level administrators. Therefore, parents have an
unquestionable interest
in being absolutely certain teachers are not under the influence of drugs or
alcohol at any point during the school day. In that regard, school district
officials have a clear responsibility to provide parents with every assurance
their children are in an environment that is as safe and productive
as is humanly
possible.

Obviously, a pre-employment drug screening will alert school district
administrators
to a potential problem before it has a chance to metamorphose into an actual
problem that could have unpleasant consequences for students.

Just as obviously, so-called "reasonable suspicion testing" gives
administrators
a necessary tool in ensuring the school district is providing a safe
and productive
atmosphere for students.

It's understandable that Clarke County teachers, and prospective
teachers, might
not be particularly enthusiastic about a more stringent drug-testing policy.
But they should also be willing to show parents - not to mention
the taxpaying
public - that they are ready and able to carry out the important duty
of educating
this community's children.

And, should the Georgia Association of Educators in fact opt to sue the Clarke
County School District if the new drug-testing policy is adopted, it should
be the association's motives, and not the school district's, that are called
into question.