Marijuana Policy Project

Thousands of Hawaii's public school teachers returned to their classrooms without a promised drug testing policy in place. Nearly a month after the deadline, the state and the Hawaii State Teachers Association are still in a standoff.

H.S.T.A. officials said they were working with the Board of Education to come up with reasonable suspicion and random drug testing policies. The union has a 32-page draft for reasonable suspicion procedures but the random drug testing is the real problem.

"We went about it in good faith. We came to an agreement. Everything was fine. We started to work on it and then we found out about giving up a person's constitutional rights. No contract or nothing can do that," said H.S.T.A. president Roger Takabayashi.

"Everybody knew someone would likely challenge it. In fact the A.C.L.U. had said so," said governor Linda Lingle. "So the fact that it could be challenged is not a reason to move forward especially after you already agreed to it and you singed off on the contract."

Several high-profile drug arrests of teachers led to the push for random testing. It was a requirement in H.S.T.A.'s latest contract to get the pay raises.

"I think the concern for the public is safe schools, and I'm confident that our schools are safe," Takabayashi said. "Our children are safe and the teachers are there to ensure that."

"I think any time there is a breach of trust it makes negotiating more difficult and that's true in labor issues. It's true in our personal relationships and this was definitely a breach of trust," Lingle said.

The state filed a complaint against the union for violating the contract by missing the June 30 deadline. However, H.S.T.A. officials officials said they were trying to come up with a policy that would withstand a constitutional challenge. The union is proposing that certain groups of teachers be randomly tested.

"Perhaps a science teacher who handles chemicals. Things of that sort. There are groups of individuals that perhaps would fit into a pool that should be tested randomly," said Takabayashi.

"Random drug testing means random and that's what they'll have to live up to so we'll wait for the ruling to come out," said Lingle.

H.S.T.A. officials said they have until Thursday to respond to the state's complaint. The ruling will come from the Hawaii Labor Relations Board.