ZERO TOLERANCE EQUALS ZERO THINKING IN DISMISSED TEACHER CASE

I'm ashamed of the Escambia School District and board. Yes, the teacher who
used cocaine committed an inexcusable act, but this situation should have
been handled privately and within the law. Instead, I have watched the
superintendent and board misuse the media to whip up a frenzy and humiliate
a man.

Someone had to tell the News Journal whose personnel file to request.
Someone had to call all those media outlets to tell them every time a
hearing was scheduled. Someone had to decide that he himself was without
sin and was entitled to cast the first stone - privately, publicly and on
national TV.

This issue is contractual, as has been reported, but it's also legal. The
law in the state of Florida is clear: No state employee can be fired on a
first positive drug test UNLESS (s)he refuses rehabilitation.

This teacher didn't refuse rehabilitation. The district apparently became
furious at having to obey the law and turned this tragic situation into a
circus, whipping up partisan feelings and, as a side effect, ruining a
man's and a family's life.

Zero tolerance equals zero thinking. I wish this superintendent would try
thinking instead of posturing. We'd all be better off.