SCHOOL SEEMS TO BE FOCUSING ON THE WRONG KIND OF TESTS

Though we haven't visited St. Viator High School in Arlington
Heights, we have to assume it has just about every teaching material
and technology and after-school activity -- and administrative and
teaching position -- it could want. Otherwise, why would the private
school be preparing to spend up to $75,000 in the fall on
drug-testing all 1,000 of its students -- even though it has no
obvious drug problem?

Talk about chasing a fire before there's any smoke: The Rev. Robert
Egan, president of St. Viator, says he's taking a "proactive
approach" in ordering the drug testing, to be performed on strands of
hair. "We didn't want to wait until something horrible happened," he
told the Daily Herald, leading us to assume the school has no student
drivers or open windows anyone can fall out.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The testing, approved by the
school's 20-member board of trustees, won't be over and done with
quickly. After every student is tested during the first six weeks of
school, 20 will be randomly tested in every succeeding week of the
school year. If parents think creating this kind of atmosphere is a
good idea, having previously upped the fun factor at school dances by
approving random Breathalyzer testing at them, they have every right
to support it. We think there are much better places for their
hard-earned tuition money to go.