Legal Clips, [October 2007]American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has demanded that Hawai‛i governor Linda Lingle back off a plan to randomly drug test Hawai‛i's 13,000 public school teachers. The ACLU said the testing is illegal. In May, Hawai‛i's public school teachers voted in favor of a new contract that included hefty pay raise and random drug testing. The state wanted drug testing after four Hawai‛i teachers were arrested on drug charges. "The ACLU'S position is that it is a travesty that the governor has bullied public schoolteachers to sacrifice a fundamental right in exchange for a living wage," said Hawai‛i ACLU Executive Director Vanessa Chong. "If the governor does not agree to withdraw the drug testing scheme we will be forced to go to court. We don't look forward to that. We think it should be settled but we are prepared to do so." The ACLU contends random drug testing is illegal and ineffective. ACLU officials said urine tests, at $200 a crack, would divert time and money from classroom improvements. The Hawai‛i State Teachers Association (HSTA) says 61% of Hawai‛i's teachers who voted for the contract approved of random drug testing. So, they are going ahead with the program unless they are told by a court to stop. The state, the school board, and the HSTA must create a drug testing plan by next June for testing to begin in the 2008 school year.
KITV Honolulu By Staff
[Editor’s Note: To view the ACLU’s press release, with a link to the group’s demand letter, see the first link below. Background on the teachers’ vote to accept drug testing and a legal overview of this question are available at the second link.]
ACLU press release
NSBA School Law pages on Hawai‛i teachers drug testing vote