SCHOOL DRUG CASE SHOWS NEED TO CHANGE CONTRACT

There's no reason to criticize Circuit Judge Nickolas Geeker for his
ruling that the Escambia County School Board must rehire a teacher who
was fired for testing positive for cocaine on the job. A judge's job
is to follow the law, and that appears to be just what Geeker did.

If the situation is to be changed, it must come in the contract
negotiated between the School District and the teachers' union. The
current contract calls for all discipline to be progressive. While
that makes sense for lesser problems, it doesn't seem to make any
distinction for dealing with serious offenses.

And certainly a teacher showing up for school high on cocaine is a
serious offense.

Many private businesses have benefits packages that provide treatment
for employees with drug or alcohol problems. They prefer to salvage
employees through treatment - if possible - rather than simply wash
their hands of them.

If a presumably valuable employee can be saved, both personally and
professionally, it makes sense to do so. People do what they do for a
lot of reasons, and often it is a cry for help. That doesn't excuse
the behavior, but many people who abuse alcohol or drugs can be salvaged.

But such programs also can depend on whether the person asks for help,
instead of being caught. Certainly the district should not have its
hands so tied that it can't deal more strongly with a teacher caught
high on hard drugs at school.