Teachers and Drug Abuse
Hawaii is considering randomly testing teachers for drugs.
Hawaii teachers may be facing close scrutiny if proposed legislation passes. Public school teachers may face mandatory testing for drug use because of recent problems.
Teachers and Drugs
Four teachers have now been found to have serious drug problems in Hawaii and the legislature is searching for answers. How can parents know that their children are in a safe environment? Drug testing could be a deterrent. It is hoped that this will raise the level of confidence with the public toward public schools. SB1139 is presently being negotiated between the Department of Education and the teacher's union.
How Serious?
According to Beverly Creamer and Rod Ohira of the Honolulu Advertiser.com, the charges are quite serious against the teachers arrested. They were found to be using and distributing:
- Cocaine
- Ecstacy
- Crystal methamphetamine,
- Marijuana
Not Found In School
While the drugs were not found in school, some of the teachers were using drugs prior to coming to work with children in classrooms. There is no evidence that children were in any danger in these cases. However, Hawaii doesn't want to give the impression that the state is willing to wait until there is danger.
Just Cause
DOE spokesman, Greg Knudsen, states that the DOE and teachers union are working out the details on this legislation. Teachers would be allowed to be tested where cause could be established. New negotiations for contracts may include a "drug-testing for cause" agreement to the new collective bargaining contract. This would affect approximately 13,000 teachers.
Justified?
Is this concern justified? The DOE doesn't think so. There are already laws on the books for abusing drugs. Ed Kubo, U.S. attorney for Hawaii, said the arrests of a few teachers are not a reflection of the "overwhelming number of educators in our state who work so hard to ensure our children are educated ... and I'm sure they also detest the criminal conduct of a few."
A Trend?
Teachers are considered role models to students and are held to a high standard for moral behavior. After all, they are in the classrooms with students eight hours a day, more time than parents spend with their children on a daily basis. There have been other recent concerns about teacher behaviors after school hours. Sex offenders are registering in schools pretending to be twelve years old. Hopefully, these are isolated incidents and not a trend within the teaching profession. Children are far too valuable for this to occur even rarely.
Related articles: My Space: Safer Now?, "Off the Team" via MySpace
Read previous articles on Educational Issues.
Copyright article 2007 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.
