Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday said education officials are overestimating the cost of random drug testing for teachers and told them to immediately implement the program.

The deadline to begin the drug-testing program was Monday, but state Department of Education officials have yet to put policies and procedures in place. In addition, officials have not put aside any money to pay for drug tests.

The governor yesterday issued a stern warning, saying that education officials are in violation of the two-year teachers contract and that labor complaints may be filed if the DOE does not implement the program swiftly.

The governor also reiterated that teacher pay raises could be withheld if the drug-testing program doesn't get implemented.

"They've had one year to work out this program," Lingle said. "They need to just get it done now."

Lingle said she spoke yesterday to Board of Education Chairwoman Donna Ikeda and told her that education officials were overestimating how much the drug-testing program would cost.

Lingle said the DOE's estimate includes creating a "mammoth bureaucracy" to handle drug testing.

"We've seen some really unrealistically huge estimates," she said.

The DOE has estimated that it would cost $523,723 to set up the drug-testing program. That estimate does not include the cost of actual testing.

The governor called that estimate "ridiculous" and said drug tests cost about $35 per person.

"If you tested one out of every 100 teachers — and there are 12,000 — you're testing 120 people a year. So it's really a minimal cost," Lingle said.

Ikeda, however, said a separate office with personnel would be necessary to handle the administrative aspects of the testing program.

"If we go along with her idea of how to implement it, the cost goes down quite a bit. But I'm not sure that it would be effective," Ikeda said.

Ikeda reiterated that she is not opposed to the idea of random drug testing, but that she is opposed to taking money from classroom programs to pay for it.

Since January, the Board of Education and the governor have insisted that the other come up with money for the program.

SOURCE OF FUNDING

In a slight change of tone yesterday, Ikeda said she would be willing to consider funding the program only if education officials were to find money within the budget that does not directly affect students.

She admitted that may be difficult, since the DOE has already been forced to cut some $10 million for its budget this past legislative session.

"I would reconsider it if the department were to get into the budget and find the money without affecting the classrooms," Ikeda. "If it's coming out of the classroom, no way."

Department of Education officials and the Hawaii State Teachers Association continued talks yesterday about the policies and procedures involved with the random drug-testing program. They have yet to finalize an agreement.

Education officials had sought a 30-day extension to set up the drug-testing program, but that request was denied by the governor.

Lingle said again yesterday that they would not be granted an extension. She said she hopes that the situation will be resolved by the end of the week.

However, Ikeda said she was unsure how long it would take for both the DOE and the HSTA to agree upon terms of the drug-testing program.

Teachers approved the two-year contract on June 25, 2007, which included raises and a stipulation that they submit to random drug testing.