TEACHER'S CASE A CONTRACTUAL, NOT A CONSTITUTIONAL, ONE

Nat Hentoff's column misstates the matter involving Sherry Hearn, the
Windsor Forest High School teacher from Savannah, Ga., who was fired for
refusing to take a drug test within two hours of a request to do so.
("Teacher defends constitutional rights," Op-Ed, April 10)

She was terminated for violating a condition in her employment contract she
signed months before the incident. Her case is a contractual one, not
constitutional. That is how the school board and administration saw the
case and, to date, how the courts have seen the case.

As the father of Michael Joseph Street, the young deputy sheriff whose
canine was alerted to the marijuana found in Miss Hearn's car, I have
watched the facts become distorted in an attempt to make a constitutional
argument. The joint was not "still warm," as Mr. Hentoff writes. I guess
this added fact is to justify the allegation that unknown parties with an
agenda planted it in her vehicle.

Mr. Hentoff has written extensively about this case but has never
interviewed my son, who was on school grounds at the request of the school
administration. Before canonizing Miss Hearn as the martyred saint for
constitutional-rights violations, a more thorough investigation should be made.

Miss Hearn has suffered because she chose to ignore her contractual
agreement with the Savannah-Chatham County Board of Education. If there was
a constitutional issue involved with the employment contract, Miss Hearn
should have made the argument before she signed the contract. The challenge
may have had merit then, but her challenge now is hollow.

Miss Hearn violated her contract, and she was terminated per the contract.
There is no great conspiracy to trample the rights of Miss Hearn. She
miscalculated her position and is paying the price for that.

The canard that Miss Hearn was voted "Teacher of the Year" and should be
given leeway is silly.

The same year as Miss Hearn's problem, two other teachers ran into contract
violation problems similar to hers. One left school to teach elsewhere and
the other took a drug test and was reinstated per her contract. Both were
bound by their contracts and both are still teaching. Miss Hearn also
should be bound by her contract.

This is not constitutional law, it is common sense. It is the making of
allowances by the popular that has allowed our society, at times, to allow
some to avoid living by the rules. Several professional football players
come to mind as an example. That is offensive to a democracy.

The Savannah-Chatham County Board of Education has a problem with violence
and open drug sales within its schools. It has instituted a "no tolerance"
approach to these problems. With thousands of children in the school
system, the safety of these children demands this approach.

This approach, taken before Miss Hearn's problems, has resulted in a great
many prosecutions of drug and weapons incidents involving students and
non-students on school grounds.

We live in a violent, drug-infested society. Schools are a microcosm of our
society. The board of education has taken steps to ensure the safety of the
children while those children are in the school system.

Kevin J. Street, Savannah, Ga.

Kevin J. Street is a lawyer.