WHO PAYS FOR DRUG TESTS?

Mr. Tolbe, the issue is not about teachers' unwillingness to
participate in a drug testing program, the issue is that the governor
has required the expense be placed upon an already stretched school
budget. ("Drug test teachers," Letters, Dec. 21)

The elementary school in your neighborhood is already cut to below
even the barest of necessities but would have to accept the additional
financial burden of covering the cost of testing its teachers.

You should sit in on a faculty meeting at one of the local schools to
witness the reality of today's challenges. We are being asked to raise
the bar in education by meeting specified standards, however the
resources in which to do this are being decreased with budget cuts.

Our past few meetings have included brainstorming ways to make cuts to
an already skeletal budget. You would also be surprised at how much of
our own money is spent on supplies for our students.

I would be more than happy to submit to a drug test, I have been
tested recently for a part-time job. Teachers are fighting for the
students, whether you believe it or not.

The drug testing expense decreases the already dismal funding and all
we are asking is that schools receive proper resources to do our job,
not have the government put more of their financial responsibilities
onto the schools.

lisakauai

thegardenisland.com