Pubdate: Sat, 21 Apr 2007
Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2007 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
Contact:  http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/195
Author: Mike Leidemann, Advertiser Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)

TEACHER PACT OKs DRUG TESTS

Hawai'i's 13,000 public school teachers would get 4  percent pay
raises in each of the next two years, and,  for the first time, be
subject to random drug testing,  under a tentative contract settlement
announced  yesterday.

Under terms of the tentative agreement, members of the  Hawai'i State
Teachers Association would receive a 4  percent raise at the start of
the next school year,  with a step movement in the second semester,
and  another 4 percent raise at the start of the second  semester in
2008.

If approved by teachers, the settlement could bring  salaries of a
newly hired certified teacher with a  bachelor's degree and up to six
years' experience to  $44,451 per year by the end of the contract in
June  2009.

Teachers who serve as band directors, drama coaches,  chorus
directors, grade level chairpersons and  agricultural teachers also
would see their  supplementary pay increase by 25 percent per year
under  the agreement.

As part of a new contract, HSTA agreed to work with the  Department of
Education to develop a random drug and  alcohol testing program for
all teachers that would be  implemented by June 2008. There is no
compulsory drug  testing of new DOE hires and no random drug screening
  in the current contract.

Gov. Linda Lingle, who announced the agreement last  night, said it
was "a fair settlement that recognizes  the dedication and hard work
of our teachers."

TEACHERS TO VOTE

HSTA President Roger Takabayashi declined comment on  the contract
terms last night, saying he wanted all  teachers to have a chance to
see it first.

The union planned to deliver copies of the contracts to  all public
schools by Monday and schedule a  ratification vote next week, he said.

The agreement was reached late Wednesday night. "It was  a long
process," Takabayashi said.

The agreement to allow random drug testing came  following the arrests
of at least four school teachers  on drug charges in the past year and
increasing calls  from parents, lawmakers and others for further action.

Just this week, a Mililani Middle School teacher  pleaded no contest
to a charge of third-degree  promotion of a detrimental drug, and two
staff members  at a Kaua'i school were fired after being arrested on
marijuana promotion charges.

"Such a program will help ensure that schools are safe  for students,
faculty and staff, and will increase  parents' confidence that their
children are being  taught in a drug- and alcohol-free environment,"
Lingle  said in a written statement.

"The drug and alcohol testing will also benefit  teachers by helping
those who might be identified with  problems to get necessary treatment."

While Takabayashi declined to comment on the  drug-testing clause last
night, he had said during an  Advertiser Web site interview last week
that HSTA wants  a safe and drug-free school environment and was
"aggressively pursuing the issue of drug testing in
negotiations."

RAISES SIMILAR TO HGEA

The pay raises in the new teacher contract are similar  to ones that
26,000 state and county workers  represented by the Hawai'i Government
Employees  Association received in a settlement announced two  weeks
ago.

The state is still negotiating a contract settlement  with the
remaining large union representing government  workers, the United
Public Workers union.

Lingle said the total costs of the new teacher  contract, which would
take effect on July 1 and end on  June 30, 2009, would be
$119,380,888.

State lawmakers, who must approve the funds for the  contract, said
early this spring that money for the pay  increases could be available
because of the state's  thriving economy and increasing tax revenues.
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MAP posted-by: Derek