Waliluku, HAWAII

In Hawaii, no teacher - none, zero, zilch - has lost their license since 2001 - despite major drug convictions. Like this one.

June 4, 2008 - The largest drug bust in Maui County yielded 18.5 pounds of cocaine, approximately 6 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 1 ounce of marijuana and more than $114,000 cash. The drugs had an estimated street value of more than $1.5 million.

Patrick Aniban, 44, and his wife, Ohia Aniban, 34, a first grade teacher at Christ The King School in Kahului, were arrested in the 2007 raid on their home. Today, Patrick Aniban pleaded no contest to drug charges. He will be sentenced August 5. He is facing 20 years.

Ohia Aniban is still awaiting trial, along with another defendant. A third defendant provided evidence and is awaiting sentencing.
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TT - Hawaii has a huge problem with drug-dealing teachers. In response, the state negotiated an agreement with teachers that in exchange for an 8% raise, they accept random drug testing. It was opposed by the union. When members voted, however, they accepted the testing with a 63% vote.

Entry Entry Entry Entry
Hawaii Board of Education Refuses to pay for drug testing Entry
Reform stifled in Hawaii Entry

Why no teacher has lost their license. Entry
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NO CONTEST PLEA August 7 - Ohia Aniban pleaded no contest to criminal conspiracy and two counts of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug. Her husband was sentenced a day earlier to 20 years in prison. He will spend four years in prison before he becomes eligible for parole.

In exchange for her pleas to the reduced charges, the prosecution agreed to dismiss four other charges - two counts of possessing drug paraphernalia, second-degree promotion of a detrimental drug and promoting a controlled substance near a public park. As part of the plea agreement, the prosecution could ask that Ohia Aniban spend up to six months in jail when she is sentenced Oct. 16.

Drug testing - Hawaii

July 1, 2008 - Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle said she does not believe the teachers union and the state Department of Education have been unable to reach an agreement on implementing random drug testing because of funding.

"It wasn't that they just had one more thing they wanted to tweak to implement the program. They wanted to go back to the beginning and negotiate what was already been negotiated," Lingle said.

It has been nearly a year since Hawaii's teachers signed a new contract that included an 11 percent pay raise and random drug testing for public schoolteachers.

June 30 was the deadline to draw up a drug testing policy but the Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association have been unable to reach an agreement.
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TT - The teachers voted 61% to accept random drug testing in a vote that the union said too close to call.

Previous entries: Entry Entry Entry Entry
Hawaii Board of Education Refuses to pay for drug testing Entry

In exchange for the 8% increase , the union "agreed" to random drug testing. Sorta.

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's the loophole, and you knew there had to be one if the union agreed to drug testing. The union will help develop the drug testing policy.

Honolulu, HAWAII

Role Model #564

May 29, 2007 -
Brad R. Kitsu, 31, an English teacher at the Academy of the Pacific as well as their athletic director, was arrested and charged, along with another man, with first-degree promotion of a detrimental drug. No details were available but a detrimental drug charge normally involves marijuana.

KGMP 9 news reports that he is an alleged drug dealer. [Which is probably an overstatement.]

TT - There have been several high profile arrests of teachers for drugs -- both using and dealing. Recently, random drug testing for teachers was accepted by union members as part of their new contract, despite union opposition. TT Link

May 30 - The case began when authorities intercepted a package containing a pound and a half of marijuana addressed to Kitsu. After delivery, the three people were arrested. He has been placed on paid leave.

GUILTY PLEA April 14, 2008 - Kitsu pleaded guilty to promoting a detrimental drug and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. He will be sentenced June 23.

SENTENCED (Sorta) June 23, 2008 - Kitsu was sentenced (sorta) to 5 years of supervised conditional release. That means he could have his record wiped clean if he stays out of trouble.

Mollie Sperry, head of the Academy of the Pacific, said yesterday that Kitsu was suspended from his job last year and this year he "was not offered an annual contract." Sperry wrote a letter to Pollack on Kitsu's behalf, saying the defendant "exemplified the highest character," according to Kitsu's attorney.

New Law in Hawaii

THE FULL STORY

License suspensions for sex offense convictions????
Not exactly.

June 13, 2008 - The Honolulu Advertiser had this Associated Press article: Teachers convicted of sex crimes face license suspensions (story in its entirety.)

Gov. Linda Lingle has signed into law a bill enabling the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to suspend the teacher's license of a teacher convicted of a sexual offense.

Until now, misbehaving teachers could be fired. But they retained their licenses, meaning there was little to stop them from getting jobs elsewhere.

The board oversees the state's 12,000 active licensed teachers.

Across the country, sexual misconduct allegations led states to take action against the licenses of 2,570 educators from 2001 through 2005. The cases includes licenses that were revoked, denied and surrendered.

Licenses are often required when teachers move from one state to another. If a teacher's license hasn't been revoked, there's little stopping her or him from starting over.

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TT - What the bill actually does is somewhat better than the news article stated:

1. The law requires the court clerk to notify the board within ten days when a teacher is convicted;
2. allows the Board to immediately suspend a teacher's license without a hearing;
3. and immediately upon suspension, the board has to initiate proceedings in accordance with chapter 91 to permanently revoke an individual's license to teach.

The bill is SB 2080 text

ONLINE RESOURCE
Search for any bill by number or by search terms Here
Help and examples are at the bottom of the page.

(When you find the bill, you can see the text or the status. The status page includes links to all versions of a measure, the committee reports and testimonials.)

Proposed Reform

Over their dead bodies.

May 23, 2008 - The Hawaii schools superintendent wants more than one criminal check on employees who work with children. She wants criminal checks a couple of times a year and a requirement that teachers notify schools when they are arrested.

The proposal arises out of the arrest of Gregory Keau, 30, a special education teachers' aide who was charged with sexually abusing a 17-year-old female student in a special education classroom at McKinley High School.

The 17-year-old student told police she was cleaning a special education classroom at McKinley when one of her teacher's aides entered and sexually assaulted her. She said he forced her to perform oral sex on him until another male school employee came into the classroom, interrupting the assault.

It was, apparently, the second time Keau had assaulted her.

Keau was arrested at McKinley High School five years ago and led away in handcuffs. It was in a misdemeanor assault case. A judge later sentenced Keau to six days in prison for choking his ex-girlfriend. Co-workers knew he had gone to prison in that assault case five years ago, but never reported his conviction to supervisors. Nor did his mother who is also a teacher's aide at the school.

The teacher's union responded. "It's management's responsibility to make sure there's a safe environment both for employee and for the children of course, and whatever they need to do, they need to come up with their plan and then consult with us," Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA) Deputy Executive Director Nora Nomura said.

TT - The teachers union in Hawaii has been adamantly opposed to drug testing for teachers even after it was overwhelmingly agreed to by union members. Notice who came first in that sentence about management's responsibility? Any reform in Hawaii will be over the dead bodies of any union. There will never be a law similar to the one passed unanimously by the house and the senate and signed into law in Arizona that requires notification of an arrest or of pending charges.

No teacher in Hawaii has lost their license since 2001. See Hawaii Drug Testing Entry Entry

Hilo, HAWAII

The denim jacket in the mug shot is a nice touch. Remember when teachers used to crochet in their spare time and didn't look like biker babes?

May 1, 2008 - Police arrested Lynn Dionise, 51, a special education teacher at Keaukaha Elementary School for methamphetamine tafficking.

Hilo Ice Task Force Unit used an unidentified confidential informant to allegedly buy drugs from Dionise at her condo. Police seized packets containing 6.8 grams of crystal methamphetamine or "ice," along with $13,245 in cash in a safe in a closet.

Dionese was charged with first-degree methamphetamine trafficking, second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, third-degree promotion of a detrimental drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Full Name: Lynn M. Dionese

Drug Testing in Hawaii

Jan 25, 2008 - The Hawaii Board of Education voted 7- 0 against funding a new drug-testing program for public school teachers, saying it would take money from educational programs. The board wants the governor and the Legislature to come up with funding for the program.

---

TT - The teacher union members voted 61% FOR drug testing in exchange for an 8% raise in salary for all members. TT link

No teachers in Hawaii lose their licenses for convictions, let alone drug use. The reason is the makeup of the Standards Board. TT link

Hawaii Board of Education site
They have their Board minutes online.

Jan 25 - Governor Linda Lingle (R) said the Hawaii public school teachers' new contract will be invalid if the school board continues to reject an agreed-upon teachers' drug testing program.

An invalid contract would mean Hawaii teachers could lose their most recent pay raises. Lingle said the education department can afford to pay for drug testing.

Maui, HAWAII

The predator was not a teacher, but the judge's colossal stupidity is worth noting.

Dec 28, 2007 - Mark Bennett, Hawaii's attorney general, wants tougher sentencing for Internet predators. He wrote this commentary for The Honolulu Advertiser: "Internet Predators Should Not Get Probation"

A recent Maui case illustrates why we need to change the law. Robert McKnight, 37, chatted over the Internet with one of our agents, whom McKnight believed was a 15-year-old Oahu girl. McKnight solicited her for sex, offered to be her "sexual teacher," masturbated several times on his Web cam which she could see, and described in great detail all the sexual acts he wanted to perform with her, including vaginal and anal intercourse and oral sex. He purchased a plane ticket for her to go to Maui, and he was arrested at the Kahului airport when he went to pick her up.

McKnight pleaded not guilty to the felony of electronic enticement of a child, and went to trial. A jury convicted McKnight, and we asked Maui Circuit Court Judge Joel August to sentence McKnight to 10 years in jail (the Hawaii Paroling Authority would have determined McKnight's minimum jail term before parole eligibility).

Instead, Judge August gave McKnight, who had a prior conviction for abuse of a family or household member, the absolute minimum sentence allowed by law -- probation and one year in jail. Judge August also allowed McKnight to remain free on bail pending McKnight's appeal, finding that McKnight posed no danger to any other person or to the community.

Judge August made the following comments (taken verbatim from the official court transcript) while imposing the minimum sentence allowed by law:

"It is clearly a problem which is to a certain extent cultural based. I mean, there are other cultures, not ours, where having sexual relations with young people is apparently not frowned upon."

"I mean, the last wife that Osama Bin Laden took a few years ago -- I think that was his fourth wife, all at the same time -- I believe was 14 years old. That apparently is not frowned upon in his particular culture."

"(O)bviously there are things that are driving Mr. McKnight which have caused him to, you know, fall prey to certain desires which society has determined to be inappropriate and risking the welfare of minors."

While hopefully no other Hawaii judge would have the poor judgment to believe Osama Bin Laden's alleged 14-year-old wife and "cultural differences" are reasons to give a convicted Internet sexual predator the minimum sentence allowed by law, Judge August's judicial colleagues have been similarly lenient with convicted predators.

This sends the wrong message to such predators, does not act as a sufficient deterrent to potential predators, keeps more predators on the streets and, in a very real sense, endangers Hawaii's children. Convicted Internet sexual predators need to be in jail for a long time, and those who are considering predation need to know that if they are caught, they will go to jail for a long time. That knowledge, hopefully, will deter at least some of them from targeting Hawai'i's kids.

The proposed new law is the Child and Adult Protection and Safety Act of 2008.

TT - This is the judge's official bio. Our view is that no predator should be sentenced to parole for sexual enticement or abuse of a child, whether on the Internet or in classrooms, but it happens every day. And judges who are this ignorant should never have been appointed to the bench. But, thankfully, that doesn't happen every day.

Honolulu, HAWAII

Sentenced to to five years in prison for molesting six boys, including his players and one of his foster children. One of whom contracted a venereal disease.

August 21, 2007 - Frederick Rames, 66, a elementary school substitute teacher and coach, will go on trial in September for sexual assault of a number of boys, including foster children from the Marshall Islands.

A judge ruled that part of his statement to police will be allowed.

Star Bulletin: (Sep 28, 2006):

Police had said the 7-year-old boy, who was on a team coached by Rames, contracted a venereal disease. The 12-year-old boy is one of Rames' foster children.

Star Bulletin: (Oct 10, 2006):

Rames appeared before District Judge Gerald Kibe yesterday on additional charges. He was charged last week with 14 counts of third-degree sexual assault and three counts of first-degree assault involving four other boys. He was also charged with four counts of witness tampering.

On Sept. 23 he was charged with six counts of third-degree sexual assault involving two boys, ages 7 and 12.

NO CONTEST PLEA: Sept 28 - On the day his trial was to start, Rames pleaded no contest to eight counts of the least serious charges against him, third-degree sexual assault of all the victims, who were 7 to 12 years old from 2002 to 2006.

Police began investigating Rames, a community activist well known in Wahiawa for his work with children, after a 7-year-old boy was diagnosed with herpes and accused Rames, his soccer coach, of sexually assaulting him.

AND,

Prosecutors said yesterday the plea agreement was driven in part by consideration for Rames' victims.
"One year ago, six very brave, courageous boys stepped forward to tell the truth," said Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Douglas Chin.

The victims "received a lot of criticism" for speaking out about Rames, including "insinuations that they were lying," Chin said.

TT - The article includes the absurd comments by a neighbor that they would welcome him back to the neighborhood. After giving herpes to a 7-year-old boy, for God's sake.

The no-contest plea will be entered on Rames' record as a conviction but cannot be used against him if the victims or their families sue him. He will be sentenced Dec 5.

SENTENCED Dec 6 - Rames was sentenced to to five years in prison for molesting six boys, including his players and one of his foster children.

Rames has been actively involved in his community for three decades and still has substantial support despite what happened.

Dec 6 - From the Honolulu Advertiser: In addition to five years in prison, Rames was ordered to register as a sex offender. Circuit Judge Michael Wilson told Rames "you indulged in your sexual impulses and your lack of self-control reaffirms the need for sex-offender registration and the need for treatment."

Drug Testing in Hawaii

Always Clueless Lawyers Union.

Nov 16, 2007 - The ACLU sent a letter to the Governor of Hawaii demanding that drug testing be scrapped for teachers. The American Civil Liberties Union has announced plans to sue in Federal court to seek a court order against the testing as an unconstitutional violation of privacy rights.

The group, in an Oct. 4 demand letter to the governor, had given Lingle until Thursday to cancel the program. Her response came in an Oct. 22 note declaring nothing in the ACLU's letter convinces the administration the program should not go ahead.

The ACLU said it would be acting on behalf of 200 educators who had complained about the drug-testing policy.

A majority of teachers, however, approved the drug testing as part of a contract between the state and the Hawaii State Teachers Association in May that also gave them two annual 4 percent salary hikes. More than 60 percent of union members voted "yes" on the contract.

Drug testing approved for schools Link
Teachers approves drug testing despite union opposition Link
Testing should deter teachers' drug dealing Link
Why no teachers in Hawaii ever lose their licenses Link

Honolulu, HAWAII

Oct 31, 2007 - Marc Fossorier, 43, a highly regarded University of Hawaii professor, was arrested, accused of trying to seduce what he thought was a 15-year-old Pearl City High School student. His online chats were with a police officer.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge of first-degree electronic enticement of a child.

"I was trying to help the girl," Fossorier told KHNL television while the police escorted him to a cellblock. "I was trying to meet her and say that what she was doing was wrong."

He told the fake 15-year-old that he was 35.

Shameful

Oct 23, 2007 - Opinion from the Honolulu Star Bulletin on "Strip licenses from teachers caught molesting kids" includes, in passing, the reason why no, zero, zilch teachers in Hawaii have lost their teaching license since 2001.

The Legislature put the Standards Board in control of teacher license renewals every five years in 2002. The board's 13 members include the University of Hawaii's dean of education, the state Board of Education chairman and teachers and administrators appointed by the governor.

TT - Due diligence, however, was extended to seven Hawaii teachers who lost their licenses since 2001, all because they had stopped paying licensing fees after resigning from their jobs.

The bigger problem than child molesters in schools in Hawaii is teachers selling drugs. They don't lose their licenses either.

Honolulu, HAWAII

Sentenced (sorta) to 37 months in prison and four years supervised probation. For drug dealing.

First reported Feb 14, 2007 -
Bronwyn Kugle, 38, a resource teacher at Kaelepule Elementary School, was arrested in connection with a drug case involving more than $100,000 worth of illegal drugs.

Kugle is alleged to have paid someone to buy cocaine and Ecstacy on the mainland and ship it to her. Authorities intercepted the third package. Inside they found a toaster oven full of cocaine. In all, authorities said they found 2.5 pounds of cocaine and 990 tablets of Ecstasy in her home. The cocaine has a street value of about $100,000 and the Ecstasy sells for between $15 and $20 per tablet, authorities said.

Earlier this month, despite teacher union opposition, state lawmakers gave preliminary approval to a bill that would require all state teachers and school workers to participate in random drug tests. Lawmakers said it is unlikely random drug testing will get final approval. [See Random Drug Testing - Hawaii now has a policy. Union members voted for it, despite union protests.]

Feb 15 - KPAU, Hilo, Hawaii reports that Kugle is the fourth teacher arrested in as many months on drug-related charges.

TT- we have 41 individuals arrested for either drug possession, intention to sell, drugged out in the classroom, conspiring to distribute or drug trafficking. They range from an assistant superintent to a bus driver.

Update Feb 22 - Kugle will have to wait for a bail hearing. It has been postponed to Feb 27th.

A Feb 15 KHNL report details the case.

"Kugle not only admitted to police that she was not only expecting the parcel, but she also knew that the parcel contained drugs," Kubo said.

Kugle's co-defendant is 28-year-old Jesse Badillo of Wahiawa. Prosecutors describe the school teacher as Badillo's financier.

"Badillo told police that Kugle had given him three loans totaling approximately $70,000 to allow him to acquire the drugs," Kubo said. "Badillo was paying Kugle back with these profits that he made from his drug sales."

The Department of Education says this in no way supports the call for universal or random drug testing of teachers.

Kugle admitted being a multi-gram user of cocaine and also a problem user of ice," Ed Kubo, US Attorney, said. Police also found a loaded revolver in her house.

Feb 15 - Honolulu Star-Bulletin reports that when police searched her house, they found a glass smoking pipe with methamphetamine residue and a loaded snub-nose .38 caliber revolver. Kugle is divorced. Her children were not at home at the time of her arrest.

Her co-defendant, Badillo has 12 state convictions including drunken driving, fourth-degree theft, and probation and restraining-order violations.

Update Mar 5 - Kugle will remain in Federal custody while she seeks admission to a drug treatment program.

GUILTY PLEA June 14 - Kugle pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic in cocaine and a drug known as Ecstasy. She also pleaded guilty to being a drug user who kept a loaded revolver in a drawer at her home. She will forfeit her home. Sentencing is scheduled for October 1.

SENTENCED Oct 9 - Kugle was sentenced to three years and one month in prison and four years of supervision after she's released. It's an extraordinary light sentenced for dealing drugs, but the prosecution noted that Kugle had cooperated fully with authorities from the moment of her arrest.

Honolulu Advertiser says the prison sentence was 37 months. She will also forfeit her interest in a Kailua residence.

Drug Testing

Didn't you just know this was coming?

Sept 15, 2007 - The ACLU will sue to halt teacher drug testing in Hawaii.

American Civil Liberties Union officials said yesterday that they plan to file a lawsuit against the state "soon" to oppose a program they claim will violate privacy rights, cost taxpayers too much money and do little to curb drug use.

What absolute jerks.

Honolulu, HAWAII

News date Apr 12, 2007 - Christian Cornwell, 34, a teacher at Lahainaluna High School, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.

Officials at Lahainaluna said their brand-new social studies teacher, Cornwell, had only been teaching for a couple of months when he left school in September.

Last year, federal agents said they identified Cornwell as a customer of child porn Web site. He later admitted to buying child porn weekly. He stored his collection on CDs labeled CP for child porn videos, officials said.

His plea agreement said that 600 images were on his home computer, many depicting masochistic behavior including "images and videos of infants screaming, crying or saying 'No' to their abusers."

The principal and vice principal of Lahainaluna said that they did not know the seriousness of the charges until Wednesday. They said they may have to follow up with Cornwell's students.

Cornwell was one of ten men arrested in March. No sentencing date given.
Full Name: Christian Blackard Cornwell

SENTENCED: September 5 - Cornwell was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison for possessing more than 10,000 images of child pornography.

Of the 10,000 images, a couple hundred were videos that included infants and toddlers being raped and molested, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Clare Connors.

Audio could be heard of the children "saying no, crying out in protest, clearly, clearly objecting to what was happening to them and clearly, clearly in pain," she said.

Cornwell is to turn himself in to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on Oct. 27.

Child Pornography and Teachers
TT - List guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List sentenced for child pornography.

Honolulu, HAWAII

August 21, 2007 - Michael Barquez, 36, a music teacher, turned himself in to be arrested on 10 counts of sexual assault for sex with a 14-year-old girl.

The girl is now 17 and only recently reported it.

No further details available.

Random Drug Testing

June 18, 2007 - The Honolulu Star-Bulletin editorial, "Testing should deter teachers' drug dealing," on the new random drug testing for teachers included this telling conclusion. [Bolding ours.]

One can only conjecture whether random drug testing would have prompted Kugle or Anzai to halt their illegal activities or seek help within the Department of Education. What is known is that teachers have been able to engage in illegal drug use and dealing without being detected and exposed by colleagues.

TT - We've often wondered how teachers can conduct 6-month or 2-year sexual relationships with students or be addicted drug dealers and other teachers at the schools could be completely unaware.

Maybe a few random lie detector tests for other teachers after a teacher is arrested would determine whether they failed to report the abuse as required by law.

Honolulu, HAWAII

Oct 11, 2006 - Lee Nobuo Anzai, (Lee Anzai) 29, a Special Education High School teacher, was arrested, accused of selling crystal meth to an undercover officer. Drug sales were, apparently, arranged while he was at school.

Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen said there is no drug screening program for the state's 13,000 teachers without cause or justification.

Anzai's case "didn't involve students and it didn't really affect his job performance," Knudsen said.

Honolulu Star-Bulletin had details. Anzai has been a special education teacher for six years, and acknowledged to an undercover officer that he had been a user of the drug since the late 1990s. Police found a smoking pipe on Anzai and a torch lighter, scale, plastic bags with residue and $3,000 cash in his car. Meth pipe, other drug items, and a small amount of marijuana were found in his home.

DEA News Release.

GUILTY PLEA UPDATE: (Dec 20) Anzai pleaded guilty to dealing drugs. His plea deal will likely save him years in prison. Instead of risking a jury conviction on five counts of dealing crystal meth, he pleaded guilty today to just one count.

Amazingly,

Anzai says he has yet to be terminated from his school. The president of the Hawaii State Teachers Union says a capable teacher will be going to waste.

"I guess once he serves his time, everyone deserves a second chance," says Roger Takabayashi, president of the association. "According to his colleagues, he was a great teacher and had good relations with the students. It was just unfortunate things turned out the way they did."

Uh, yeah.

Dec. 21 - The Star-Bulletin report on the plea arrangement says "As part of his plea agreement, Anzai also admitted to four other counts of dealing ice at separate times and locations." AND "Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Kawahara said Anzai could be eligible for serving less than 10 years in prison under a provision called the "safety valve."
Under that provision, Anzai would need to admit to law enforcement officials and truthfully provide all information concerning the full scope and extent of his criminal conduct sometime before his sentencing, Kawahara said." Sentencing is set for June 4. Anzai has a wife and a 1-year-old son.

SENTENCING June 4 - Anzai was sentenced to 4 years. His cooperation with authorities led to the lower-than-expected sentence. However, District Judge J. Michael Seabright, who noted this afternoon that Anzai's position as a teacher in a drug case raised community concerns about "safety in education."

Random Drug Testing in Hawaii

You knew it was coming, of course. The membership of Hawaii's State Teachers Association voted for random drug testing despite leadership opposition.

The Honolulu Advertiser on the legal hurdles: Challenges might come, according to union leaders, who say some Hawai'i teachers have been in contact with the Hawai'i branch of the American Civil Liberties Union and private attorneys. TT - Encouraged, no doubt, by the union.

An attorney for the National Education Association, which represents 2 million teachers nationwide, said the legal issues surrounding teacher testing are murky because the U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled specifically on random drug testing of teachers.

TT - They will do their best to make sure it never gets there.

They will, of course, use Play 187. It's a standard oppositional tactic developed after Californians voted for and passed Proposition 187 cutting off funding for illegal aliens. As soon as practical, the opposition sent the issue to a leftwing friendly court - the crackpots in the Ninth Court - where the case languishes. Once that happens, if you don't appeal, the problem just goes away. The state of California is happy not to appeal.

Count on the same thing in Hawaii. And the teachers won't give back the 8% raise either.

It's particularly odd, though, that firemen and policemen have been subject to random drug testing, even lie detector testing, for decades without legal challenge. Strange that random drug testing is suddenly a legal issue, no? Play 187 will ensure that their political allies in the Legislature do not pay a penalty for opposing implementation of the plan.

The only one who isn't a consideration is -- the student. But, then, that's typical of education unions. Your child is last place in anyone's game plan.

Hawaii

Random drug testing for teachers approved in Hawii.

May 3, 2007 - Teachers in Hawaii approved a new contract that includes random drug testing. The union had waited to announce the vote reporting that it was too close to call. However, The Hawaii State Teachers Association announced that 63 percent of 13,000 teachers participated in the ratification vote, with 61.3 percent approving and 38.2 percent disapproving.

Education Week [subscription] reported that Roger Takabayashi, the president of HSTA, said his members “feel disrespected” by the way in which the testing provision was tied to the pay raise, which brings a starting teacher’s salary in the state to $43,157 a year, from $39,901. [If so, they were in a minority.]

The details of the drug testing have yet to be worked out, but principals will not be allowed to suggest drug testing for a teacher nor will a principal see the results.

TT BACKGROUND: After several drug arrests for possession and distribution by teachers in Hawaii in the last six months, there is a tentative agreement in the new union contracts for random drug testing.

But at an enormous cost to taxpayers.

An 8% raise in salary for all members. If approved by teachers, the settlement could bring salaries of a newly hired certified teacher - just out of college - 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 each year under the agreement.

In exchange, the union "agreed" to random drug testing. Sorta.

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's the loophole, and you knew there had to be one if the union agreed to drug testing. The union will help develop the drug testing policy.

And indication of how the union will make sure how ineffectual the policy will be is how teachers will be selected for testing. The teachers won't be selected for testing by their direct supervisor -- the principal.

Officials declined to say how the testing would be done, but the contract says "principals will not select teachers for random drug testing, nor will they or the DOE administer or read the results of the testing."

Nor will the principal be informed of the results.

You can also bet that the teacher will not be fired for drug abuse. They will receive disability while they get treatment, probably paid for by taxpayers, and with continued salary -- at least enough to continue union dues.

A sample of how to elude accountabilityis a bill before the Legislature would subject all public school employees who work close to children to drug testing if there is reasonable suspicion they are intoxicated. Not if they are suspected of long-time drug abuse. They have to be on drugs or drunk to form "reasonable suspicion."

This is how unions make sure there is no reform in schools.