Posted on: Sunday, March 4, 2007
COMMENTARY
Drug tests would fail to solve problem
By Sharon Mahoe
This commentary is part of a series of articles prepared by Voices of Educators, a nonprofit coalition designed to foster debate and public policy change within Hawai'i's public education system, in partnership with The Honolulu Advertiser. It appears in Focus on the first Sunday of the month.
Voices of Educators is comprised of some of Hawai'i's top education experts, including: Liz Chun, executive director of Good Beginnings Alliance; Patricia Hamamoto, superintendent of the state Department of Education; Donald B. Young of the College of Education, University of Hawai'i; Joan Lee Husted and Roger Takabayashi of the Hawai'i State Teachers Association; Sharon Mahoe of the Hawai'i Teacher Standards Board; Alvin Nagasako of the Hawai'i Government Employees Association; and Robert Witt of the Hawai'i Association of Independent Schools. Visit their Web site at www.hawaii.edu/voice.
Recently, four Hawai'i public school teachers were accused of using illegal drugs, resulting in dramatic headlines and a flurry of discussions about how to fix this problem. We all agree that using illegal drugs is a serious matter whether the user is a student, a parent or a teacher. And it demands action. More importantly, it requires a well-thought-out and comprehensive plan to ensure our schools and our communities are drug-free.
Let's be clear — educators do not condone the use of illegal drugs. But here is why we think drug-testing teachers is not the solution.
Drug tests are expensive but not reliable. Initial estimates put the cost as high as $450,000 annually to test the more than 13,000 teachers in our schools. Sources say that up to 30 percent of drug tests result in false positives that then require even more tests. Ibuprofen, Nyquil and Sudafed are some of the many commonly used over-the-counter drugs that can yield false positive results. Having diabetes or kidney or liver disease also can give false positives. Given the many funding needs our students and schools have, spending money on drug tests that even experts concede are unreliable is a poor use of already severely limited funds.
Drug testing can ruin innocent people. Think about how the media and the public reacted to the recent arrests. Think, too, about how a professional's life can be affected by the assumption of guilt. And then think about how public allegations affect innocent people. I clearly remember how a teacher I knew was accused of making inappropriate advances toward a student. He was devastated. The court case took at least two years out of his life under a cloud of suspicion before he was found not guilty. But the harm had been done. The media attention given to his arrest was not equally afforded to his finding of innocence, so in the minds of most people, he was still guilty. The life of a dedicated teacher was ruined. He has not been able to return to the work he loved. Teachers whose tests prove to be false positives will face similar experiences for being a "druggie." Is this what we want for our teachers?
Professional accountability is key. Other professions, including lawyers and doctors, adhere to a professional code of ethics, and so should teachers. The Hawai'i Teacher Standards Board just conducted public hearings on a code of ethics for educators. It spells out desired and expected professional conduct among public school teachers in terms of three principles: commitment to students, commitment to the profession, and commitment to the community. The code sets the foundation for establishing professional accountability and clearly outlining what will happen to teachers who do not live up to their professional code of ethics. Possible outcomes include the denial, suspension or revocation of one's license if a teacher is found guilty of breaking the code. Any of these will prevent the teacher from teaching in any school in the country. As is true with other professional boards, the discipline administered by one's peers is meaningful and taken seriously. This is why professional accountability is key to the solution.
Call for a comprehensive approach. Enforcement of the code of ethics should be coupled with a comprehensive program designed to educate and train teachers and school administrators to identify drug use in adults and students as well as provide treatment and rehabilitation when needed. The DOE's "Troubled Employee Program," which provided help to teachers dealing with any form of substance abuse, needs to be revived. But we cannot stop there. Illegal drugs are a community problem, too. Too many of us have friends and relatives who have been victims of those who push, sell or use illegal drugs. Property, personal security and even lives will continue to be damaged or lost as long as we fail to put together a comprehensive plan to attack the problem.
The Department of Education, unions, parent organizations, the legislative and executive branches of government, law enforcement agencies and the public at large must pull together and work toward meaningful solutions. And let's be sure to back our plan up with what it takes to be successful.
