Pubdate: Sun, 6 Jul 2008
Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI)
Copyright: 2008 Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Contact: http://starbulletin.com/forms/letterform.html
Website: http://www.starbulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/196
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/teacher+drug+testing
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)

END TUG-OF-WAR OVER TEACHER DRUG TESTING

The Issue

The deadline to implement a program testing public school teachers 
for substance abuse passed with no plan in place.

The state Department of Education appears to be creating an 
unnecessary bureaucracy and expense to carry out random drug testing 
for public school teachers.

The department already conducts testing for bus drivers, physical 
therapists who work with deaf and blind students and auto mechanics 
instructors, and while testing teachers could involve larger numbers, 
the estimated cost of more than $500,000 a year seems excessive.

The program that teachers agreed to as part of their contract last 
year was supposed to be in place by now -- the deadline was last 
Monday -- but has been delayed as their union, the department, the 
Board of Education and the Lingle administration wrangle over 
procedures and costs, specifically where funds to pay for testing are 
going to come from.

The board refused to assign money for testing. Gov. Linda Lingle 
refused to add funding to the education budget. Meanwhile, the Hawaii 
State Teachers Association has been negotiating the mechanics of the 
program for the 13,000 teachers.

The department says it needs a new division and up to nine new job 
positions to implement the program, which explains the cost, but it 
isn't clear why such an elaborate operation is needed.

The number of teachers to be tested hasn't been made known, but if 
the department follows the general model of private employers who 
test 10 to 20 percent of workers at a cost of about $35 each, lab 
work for 2,600 teachers would come in at $91,000.

In any case, the board, department, union and administration should 
end this tug-of-war and move ahead with the program. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake