The Advertiser's editorial on teacher drug testing points to the common goal of implementing the provision that was agreed to a year ago by the HSTA, Department of Education, Board of Education and the state, and which was ratified by teachers. To grant a 30-day extension beyond the June 30 deadline would only prolong the implementation. The DOE and BOE have focused on an unrealistic $500,000 implementation price tag (not including the actual costs of the tests), which has since grown to include a bureaucracy of nine people. [continues 233 words]
The recent editorial on random drug testing of teachers conveyed frustration with government operations in contrast to the efficacy of the private sector. Herein lies the rub. The governor, the Board of Education and the Department of Education are all state actors. Private companies and private associations may freely conduct warrantless searches of their employees or members without any showing of cause or due process. However, the U.S. and Hawai'i Constitutions prohibit the government - including the DOE - from drug-testing its employees without reasonable suspicion. By proceeding with random drug testing, the governor and the DOE will be violating teachers' constitutional rights. [continues 547 words]
State Erroneously Sent Database of Patients to Big Island Newspaper Angry telephone calls started coming in to the state Department of Public Safety almost as soon as the June 27 issue of the Hawai'i Tribune-Herald hit the streets. A front-page article on medical marijuana mentioned that the department had provided a database with patient names and addresses, the locations of their plants, their certificate numbers, and their prescribing doctors. The breach of privacy was an inadvertent mistake, and the newspaper did not name any of the patients, but many were alarmed because the information is like providing a roadmap for a stash of legal pot. [continues 681 words]
8 Chinatown Spaces May Be Removed As an Anti-Narcotics Measure Deputy city prosecutors normally charged with shutting down drug houses are concentrating on a stretch of Pauahi Street in Chinatown known for drug dealing, and are proposing a simple solution to get rid of the problem - remove eight metered parking spaces and put up "no stopping" signs. The plan is designed to make it easier for police to spot illegal activity on the sidewalk across from Maunakea Marketplace and make drive-by drug deals a lot harder. The city prosecutor's office is trying to get community support for the proposal before taking it to the city Transportation Department for action, especially since it involves sacrificing precious on-street parking in a busy urban area for something that may not necessarily drive away crime altogether. [continues 743 words]
Enough. It is long past time to end the petty quarreling over implementation of public school teacher drug testing. In the private sector, this would have been accomplished long ago. Is it any wonder the public has little faith in government? The tests were agreed to a year ago. Deadlines were set for implementation. The same old arguing is going on. Neither side in this ugly dispute was clear about funding. Each carries the blame for that and each has a responsibility to settle the matter quickly and fairly. [continues 264 words]
Lingle Says Education Officials Want To Renege On Terms Of Contract Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday that education officials want to renege on the terms of their contract by avoiding random drug testing of public school teachers. The deadline for implementing the drug testing was yesterday, and no testing took place. Teachers approved a contract on June 25, 2007, that included raises and a stipulation that they submit to random drug testing. Most of the pay raises that were promised in the new contract - a 4 percent increase in July and a 3 percent increase in January - have already taken effect. [continues 385 words]
Today Is Deadline for Full Implementation but Lingle, Boe Not Budging Today is the deadline for full implementation of random drug testing of public school teachers, but the standoff between Gov. Linda Lingle and the state Board of Education over who should pay for it makes it an unfunded mandate and leaves questions about legal and contractual consequences. Both the state Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association were feverishly meeting last week to hash out the final details of the policies and procedures for the random drug-testing program. [continues 974 words]
Which city uses more cocaine: Los Angeles or London? Is heroin a big problem in San Diego? And has Ecstasy emerged in rural America? Environmental scientists are beginning to use an unsavory new tool, raw sewage, to paint an accurate portrait of drug abuse in communities. Like one big, citywide urinalysis, tests at municipal sewage plants in many areas of the United States and Europe have detected illicit drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana. Law enforcement officials have long sough a way to make reliable and verifiable calculations of narcotics use, to identify trends and to formulate policies. Surveys, the backbone of drug-use estimates, are only as reliable as the people who answer them. But sewage does not lie. [continues 90 words]
Big Island Police Say Council Vote May Limit Other Law Enforcement HILO, Hawai'i -- For the second time in eight years, the Big Island County Council has refused to accept grant money to finance county marijuana eradication programs, and Big Island police say that move may hamper other law enforcement work, including efforts to crack down on harder drugs. The council last week deadlocked in a 4-4 vote over whether to accept $282,000 in federal money and $159,000 in state funds to target marijuana-growing operations. The tie means the council will not accept the money, and East Hawai'i Vice Commander Lt. Samuel Jelsma said he is not aware of any plan by police to resubmit the measures to the council for reconsideration. [continues 483 words]
If teachers need to be drug tested to get a raise, then people on welfare should also be required to take the same test to get welfare check. If you pass the drug test, the state should pay for the test; if you fail, you pay for that test. Alvin Wong Pearl City [end]
Compromise is difficult, even under the friendliest circumstances. But when there's a virtual standoff -- as there is in the dispute over drug testing of public school teachers -- the difficult becomes impossible. The stalemate is not on negotiating the ground rules for testing, or on the type of sampling and tests to be used; negotiations on this issue are proceeding well. It's on who's going to foot the bills. And on that score, the Lingle administration and the Board of Education have reached an impasse. [continues 338 words]
Drug Czar Warns of Link to Depression, While Others Rule Out Risk WASHINGTON -- The White House drug czar said in a warning to parents yesterday that depressed teens are medicating themselves with marijuana, running risks of even deeper depression. A report by the Office National Drug Control Policy said that frequent marijuana ingestion doubles a teen's risk of depression and anxiety, based on data compiled from published studies. The report, timed to be released during Mental Health Awareness Month, cited a study that marijuana use increases the risk of developing mental disorders later in life by 40 percent. [continues 323 words]
Judge Tells Man, 65, He's Not an Evil Person, but 'Respect for Law' At Stake HILO, Hawai'i -- A Big Island man was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison yesterday for commercial promotion of marijuana, the only case in recent memory where a first conviction in a marijuana case prompted such a long sentence. Volcano resident David Finley Jr., 65, was arrested Jan. 29, 2007, in a raid on his Volcano ranch that turned up three indoor growing operations on the property, including a greenhouse attached to Finley's home, equipment for manufacturing hashish and more than 75 pounds of dried marijuana and other drugs. [continues 334 words]
HILO, Hawai'i - A Big Island social worker who links clients seeking medical marijuana with doctors who will certify the patients for legal medical cannabis use has been arrested in connection with a marijuana case in Puna. Matthew Brittain, 46, owns a company called Effective Change LLC, and has a private practice in Hilo that provides mental health services including family and marriage counseling, anger management and substance abuse treatment, according to the Effective Change Web site. Police arrested Brittain Monday after a search of his Fern Acres property over the weekend turned up 64 marijuana plants -- some up to 6 feet tall -- allegedly growing outdoors to the rear of Brittain's house and a rental unit on the property. [continues 443 words]
As early as next school year Hawai'i public school students may be subjected to locker searches and drug-sniffing dogs, as the Board of Education is expected to vote today to send the controversial proposal to Gov. Linda Lingle for her signature. That would set into motion an expected monthslong public hearing process. "It's highly unlikely that we will see dog searches or locker searches this school year," said Karen Knudsen, BOE first vice chairwoman. Board members already have approved sweeping changes to Chapter 19 - the state law governing student conduct and discipline - including the addition of student locker searches "with or without reason or cause," new rules against cyberbullying and a drug-sniffing dog program. [continues 426 words]
Hawai'i inmates at the Red Rock Correctional Center in Arizona have been locked down for 10 days during a top-to-bottom shakedown of the prison prompted by two recent drug overdoses of Alaska inmates, according to the Hawai'i Department of Public Safety. About 65 Hawai'i inmates are housed at the private prison, but are kept separate from the Alaska prisoners, said Public Safety Deputy Director Tommy Johnson. Teams provided by prison owner Corrections Corporation of America used drug dogs as part of the search of all staff, program, recreational, medical, kitchen and living areas. Investigators discovered three grams of black tar heroin and a list detailing prices within the prison for cigarettes, marijuana and other drugs, Johnson said. [continues 80 words]
The dispute between Gov. Linda Lingle's administration and the Board of Education over who should pay for teacher drug testing continued at the board's most recent meeting, with both sides insisting the other should pay. Last year, teachers approved a new contract that included raises and a stipulation they submit to random drug testing. On Jan. 24, the Board of Education voted 7-0 to not pay for the $523,723 teacher drug testing program out of its Impact Aid fund. [continues 608 words]
10 Years I must be old now, because when I read that a 24-year-old is given 10 years in jail I cringe. When I read that the criminal had no prior arrest record, then I begin to wonder. When I read it's about marijuana, then I begin to wonder why. Heck, my boy is a year older than that kid. Let's see, 24 years ago - I was 34 then. Hey, that's the age that kid will be when he gets out of jail. Then I start to cry. Bob Nelson, Pahoa, Hawai'i [end]
Money to reduce class size for third-graders, help homeless students, test teachers for drugs and bring in drug-sniffing dogs was left out of Gov. Linda Lingle's budget for this legislative session. The state Department of Education wanted Lingle to include these and other items in its $48 million supplement budget, but the governor turned them down. Tax revenue is growing slower than previously forecast, so all agencies must hold the line on spending, a Lingle administration official said. [continues 982 words]
Again, the reactionary response to the recent tragedies is sad. Rep. Josh Green's response is to mandate 60 days clean and sober for parents to get their children back, and drug treatment. This makes a very faulty assumption. Drug-treatment programs are woefully underfunded and neglected by the state. Treatment costs money. Just mandating parents to receive treatment does not make it so. Put your money where your mouth is. Dave Endo Waipahu [end]
Teacher Rebecca Rosenberg said in a Feb. 5 letter that Gov. Linda Lingle has "utter contempt" for the teaching profession because of her stand on drug testing. It would seem to me that the teachers who oppose drug testing are the ones showing utter contempt to their profession. Why the fuss? Why not take the drug test as agreed upon in their contract? Isn't the whole point of drug testing to make the school environment safe? Why oppose a drug test if you have nothing to hide? [continues 84 words]
Three Kaua'i police officers pleaded no contest yesterday to charges of theft and falsifying government records after they traveled to a training session at county expense but skipped the training, the state Attorney General's Office said. Sgt. Wesley F. Perreira, Sgt. Lawrence E.T. Stem and Officer Channing T. Tada each pleaded no contest to second-degree theft, a felony, and tampering with a government record. They face up to five years in prison on the theft charges. The three officers went to Maui in September 2005 for two days of Indoor Marijuana Investigation Training at Pu'ununu Armory near Kihei. [continues 152 words]
We may never find out what those three were really doing when they said they were in cop class, but it is a sign of the times that we can at least think of numerous possibilities. Two Kaua'i Police Department sergeants and one officer entered no contest pleas last week to charges stemming from an incident in September 2005 when they said they were attending a seminar on Maui but never went to class. They got on the plane, rented cars, checked into hotel rooms, got per diem checks and even filled out "what I learned in class" surveys but didn't go to class. [continues 363 words]
The state Board of Education is trying to stall teacher drug testing by refusing to pay for the tests out of the state Department of Education's $2.2 billion budget, board member Lei Ahu-Isa said yesterday. Public school teachers agreed to random drug tests as part of a new contract approved last year that included salary increases of up to 11 percent. On Jan. 24, the Board of Education voted 7-0 to not pay for the $500,000 teacher drug testing program. [continues 150 words]
The Page One article, "Mom wasn't likely to lose custody" (Honolulu Advertiser, Jan. 31, regarding the Cyrus Belt case) may confuse readers about the role of Family Court and lead readers to assume that the courts have somehow been derelict in their duties. This confusion is a disservice to Cyrus' memory and also to the community that relies upon Family Court to protect our children. Therefore, I would like to clarify the situation. The Department of Human Services did not bring this case to the Family Court. We make no judgments about its actions or inactions. We see no need to second-guess the results of their six separate investigations, despite the tragedy of Cyrus' death. [continues 546 words]
A big mahalo to Gov. Linda Lingle for her recent stand on drug testing of teachers. A lifelong Democrat, I thought long and hard before voting for Gov. Lingle, a Republican. But her recent stand on drug testing and the teacher contract reveals her utter contempt for teachers and the teaching profession. I'll know better the next time I vote. Rebecca Rosenberg Kailua [end]
The agreement between the Hawaii State Teachers Association and the state Board of Education calls for both parties to "establish...reasonable procedures applicable to all bargaining unit 5 employees that are intended to keep the workplace free from the hazards of the use of alcohol and controlled substances - and implement such a plan no later than June 30, 2008." HSTA has been working toward such a plan, although it is likely to be thrown out as unconstitutional by the courts. [continues 134 words]
Legislature 2008 Tomorrow is the 12th day of the 60-day session. The House Health Committee held hearings Friday on bills that would establish secure facilities on Maui to grow medical marijuana and recognize out-of-state certification to use marijuana for medicinal purposes in Hawa'i. If House Bill 2675 passes, qualified patients would not have to get additional certification from the state Department of Public Safety. House Bill 2678 deals more with safety, since patients are finding it difficult to grow their medical grade marijuana plants quickly enough to be able to use them as needed. "If you fail, your medicine is gone," said Rep. Joe Bertram III, D-11th (Makena, Wailea, Kihei). [continues 403 words]
What do Hawai'i's hospitals and Wal-Mart have in common? They both have random drug-testing policies to protect patients and consumers - in other words, the public. If they can agree to set certain standards and expectations, why can't those who influence and educate the most precious gifts our community has? Hawai'i's students have enough on their plates already, and issues such as peer pressure, sex, violence, the Internet and drug abuse already weigh heavily on the minds of parents. [continues 110 words]
Teachers have already received most -- about 7 percent -- of the pay raise they were promised in a new contract that also called for random drug testing. The drug testing has yet to begin, and Gov. Linda Lingle and education officials are engaged in a dispute over how to fund the program. The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday called for the governor to retract what it said was a threat she made last week to withhold a final installment of the pay raises if the state Department of Education doesn't fund the drug testing by the June 30 deadline. [continues 1032 words]
At the Jan. 24 meeting, Board of Education members voted 7-0 against taking money from the Department of Education budget to fund drug testing of teachers, counselors, librarians and others in HSTA Unit 5. For some, their vote came down to opposing using money from schools and students to pay for drug testing. For others, the vote came down to the philosophical or practical merits of drug testing. There may be other reasons as well. If we're going to have random drug testing in our public education system, let it be for all employees, not just teachers. As a 33-year military veteran, undergoing random drug testing was part of the job. It comes down to ensuring the safety of others and self. My granddaughter's third-grade reading teacher recently pled guilty to possession and distribution of drugs. I believe the focus should be on the safety of students. [continues 51 words]
It's a sad commentary that random drug testing is now a part of the cost of doing business. And no one likes the notion that random drug testing is needed in our classrooms. But, teachers, however reluctantly, agreed to a contract last year that mandated such testing and the state Board of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association signed a memorandum of understanding over the testing. Now, as the Department of Education moves forward toward implementing the plan, an unseemly fight between the BOE and Gov. Linda Lingle is playing out. [continues 307 words]
Ice. Destroyer of life, love, happiness. Major contributor to civic mayhem. Let's not let precious little Cyrus' life have been in vain. C'mon lawmakers! Either enact stiffer penalties or provide for more effective rehabilitation to rid Hawai'i of this menace. Let's not forget Cyrus, let him be the child that leads us out of this hell called ice. Do it! Now! Honolulu [end]
Pay raises promised to Hawai'i's 13,500 public school teachers cannot go into effect if the state Board of Education and Department of Education do not come up with $400,000 to $500,000 for a teacher drug-testing program that Gov. Linda Lingle insisted on, Lingle's spokesman said yesterday. "If parts of the contract are not implemented, then the contract cannot take effect," Russell Pang said. "The drug-testing provision is part of the contract." Hawai'i teachers last year ratified a two-year contract that calls for 4 percent raises at the start of the current school year, and a salary-scale step movement and another 4 percent raise at the start of the second semester this year. [continues 599 words]
KAHUKU -- The state Board of Education last night voted against funding a new drug-testing program for public school teachers, saying it would take money from educational programs. Some board members expressed reservations about whether teachers should be subject to random drug tests at all. Board members called on Gov. Linda Lingle, who insisted on including the provision in the teacher contract last year, or the Legislature to fund the program. "I think it's more important for us to use these funds in the classroom," BOE chairwoman Donna Ikeda said. "Let the governor, who was adamant in putting this in the contract, to come up with the funds for the program." [continues 545 words]
How many more lives do we have to see become wasted due to drugs? Horrific displays of people under the influence of drugs are becoming far too commonplace across our state. It's been long reported that 80 percent of crime is due to the illegal drug trade and use. Drug education has been the answer of our liberal lawmakers for the past 30 years, but it is not working. We need tougher laws and we need more prisons. Drugs are costing our nation billions, and even more serious is the continued loss of generations of our children who experiment and later become drug addicts and criminals. [continues 90 words]
Each week Editorial and Opinion Editor Jeanne Mariani-Belding hosts The Hot Seat, our opinion-page blog that brings in elected leaders and people in the news and lets you ask the questions during a live online chat. On The Hot Seat last week was Vanessa Chong, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i, who answered questions on civil rights issues, including drug testing for Hawai'i's public school teachers. The following is an excerpt from that Hot Seat session. To see the full conversation, go to The Hot Seat blog at www.honoluluadvertiser.com/opinion and click on "The Hot Seat." (Names of questioners are screen names given during our online chat.) [continues 1471 words]
Hawai'i has some of the lowest rates of criminal violence in the nation, homicide in the state has declined in recent years, the amount of methamphetamine seized by authorities is down (as is treatment for persons who use this pernicious drug), state and federal officials claim there has been a reduction in Hawai'i's "ice" problem and attribute that "success" to their own law enforcement efforts, and yet The Advertiser sees fit to publish a Page One article titled "State may see jump in drug violence" (Dec. 9). [continues 187 words]
In his letter of Dec. 3, Wayne Pearce disagrees with drug testing for teachers. The questions he asks are just cannon fodder to deny the importance of drug testing. First of all, we do not want teachers advocating the experimentation of drug use for any reason, even if a former U.S. president experimented but did not inhale. Second, we do not want teachers who disregard or play down the dangers of drug use because they do not think it is dangerous. Third, we do not want teachers who cannot continuously teach students about the dangers of drug use without any reservation because they are users themselves. Finally, we do not want teachers who cannot perform their duties at any time because of illicit drug addiction. Drug use leads to absenteeism, poor performance and illicit activities. [continues 84 words]
More than 100 multistate and international drug rings are operating in Hawai'i, and law enforcement officials are wary about the violence the groups could bring to the Islands. Between 2004 and 2006, law enforcement officials say they identified 172 multistate and international drug operations that were actively shipping large amounts of product into the state. Of the 172 rings funneling drugs, law enforcement agencies say 31 were broken up and the other 141 were disrupted but are still considered viable. [continues 1154 words]
In a recent letter to the editor regarding drug testing for teachers, it was mentioned how the advocacy of that testing was an indication of how important we the people consider the teaching position. I disagree. "We the people" do not consider teaching to be that important. Otherwise, teachers would not be leaving the profession in droves to find jobs that they can support a family with. Unfortunately, only another teacher can really relate to what it's like to be a teacher, many of whom have to deal with serious crisis and behavior management on a daily basis and still actually teach a subject. [continues 63 words]
Referencing a letter written by Jim Henshaw (Letter, Nov. 24), it is inferred that the Fourth Amendment should be upheld with regards to drug testing. It is not unreasonable to expect our educators to be drug free, but time and time again, it has been found that some of these professionals don't understand the concept and rules. I agree with the Fourth Amendment, but under the circumstances, the employer (the DOE) and general public have a right to "safety and protection." [continues 156 words]
HILO, Hawai'i - It has been almost seven years since Big Island Mayor Harry Kim declared "war" on crystal methamphetamine, a pronouncement that helped launch a political movement that led county, state and federal governments to spend millions of dollars on anti-meth initiatives. Much of that money was aimed at solving the problem on the Big Island, and the island's efforts are sometimes cited as a model for other communities. More than $9 million in federal funds alone was directed at the meth problem on that island. [continues 1704 words]
4TH AMENDMENT BARS UNREASONABLE SEARCHES I applaud Ben Clinger's Nov. 21 pro-drug-testing letter lambasting "the ACLU's intent to destroy the fundamental principles of the country by needless and costly suits." But, since Ben, no doubt inadvertently, forgot to mention which "fundamental principle" was being destroyed by the ACLU opposing searches without a search warrant or probable cause, I thought I'd point out the text for him: "Amendment IV: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, paper, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." [continues 55 words]
If the ACLU has an agenda, it is that of the Founding Fathers, who fought a revolution to secure the very rights Ben Clinger (Letter, Nov. 20) would so eagerly relinquish. If that's to be characterized as progressive, so be it. I actually think it's quite conservative. What the ACLU is doing is fighting to preserve one of our fundamental rights from further government encroachment and circumscription, an all-too-present danger in this post 9/11 world. Mr. Clinger claims to have read the Constitution, but he must have skipped over the Bill of Rights, in particular the Fourth Amendment, which states, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause." Where's the probable cause, Mr. Clinger, in random drug testing? There is none. It paints all teachers with the same ignominious brush of suspicion. [continues 80 words]
The American Civil Liberties Union's threat to sue the Lingle administration in federal court is a fine example of the secular progressive agenda of that organization. The governor's action is geared to provide added protection to the students of this state and she is to be applauded for it. The ACLU's intent is to destroy the fundamental principles of the country by needless and costly suits. To think an employee must be free of any performance-related scrutiny doesn't make sense. Random drug testing has been used for years and is not a violation of the constitution of this state or this country. I read both documents again and cannot find anything close to it being a violation. Random drug testing is a valuable option to the employer, and ultimately the public, in an attempt to keep people honest and to reduce the exposure of our youth to drugs. I definitely say NO to drugs when it comes to the youth of this state. Ben Clinger Wai'anae [end]
When parents pay for students to go to school, whether by paying taxes for public school or tuition for private school, they trust that their children will be kept out of harm's way. This responsibility is certainly taken seriously by state educators. However, an educator cannot perform this responsibility to its fullest if students are allowed to bring, and essentially "hide," whatever they want in their lockers. Yes, each individual has a right to privacy, but when students enter school grounds, whether it is public or private, they make a silent agreement that the purpose of coming to school is to learn. Once a student breaks that agreement, the responsibility lies with educators to ensure that the safety of all students is not compromised by one person's actions. This is only possible if educators have access to school property, including student lockers. [continues 106 words]
The Board of Education proposal advocating for locker searches without probable cause in public schools should be a good start in the attempt to deter students from bringing illegal substances and objects to school. School should be an environment where students feel safe and can learn without distractions. Though many argue that searching without reason is invasion of privacy, the bigger picture is the safety of students. Plus, the lockers are the property of the schools, meaning that they are the property of the state. [continues 120 words]
Sometimes it takes courage to make a difference. That's just what happened in a Kalihi neighborhood. Residents living near an elementary school there - fed up with drug dealers near the campus - chose to get involved. Their complaints to police sparked a seven-month undercover investigation that resulted in the arrest of five men and two 17-year-olds on drug charges. Two of the five men arrested were also wanted in connection with a robbery. And because four of the five men were allegedly selling crystal methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of an elementary school, they now face more severe penalties of up to 20 years in federal prison. [continues 107 words]
I am a squeaky-clean seventh-grade math teacher at Waiakea Intermediate School in Hilo. I did not even smoke pot during the hippie '60s. I do not smoke or drink. I care about my students. The teacher random drug testing is wrong on so many levels: unconstitutional (Fourth Amendment search and seizures); expensive (I don't want any money taken from my school's budget for a drug testing program); subject to false positives (affecting specific teachers egregiously); lack of reason to do it (any evidence that teachers using drugs have harmed students?). [continues 57 words]
