Teachers

STATE MONEY SHOULDN'T GO TO DRUG TESTING

As an employee of the Department of Education and as a resident of
the Wai'anae Coast, I can see the merit in drug testing for DOE employees.

And I can understand Darlene Tajiri's point (Letters, Oct. 8)
regarding the safety and welfare of our keiki and her rights.

But there is a big difference between driving a bus and steering a
child. Simply put, one is transportation and one is education.

How can it be justified to spend money the state doesn't have on drug
testing when the children in the schools don't even have enough books
and materials, much less adequate staffing?

The state is having a hard enough time trying to teach the kids how
to read and write, and yet there are designs to take more money out
of an already anemic education budget.

Wouldn't it be nice if the education funding went to schools instead
of laboratories? Oh well, maybe they're right. We don't need to worry
about education if all we require of our keiki is to learn how to
pour cement so they can build more parking lots. Lucky we live Hawai'i!

Dayne Carvalho
Wai'anae