New Jersey Parents: Drug Test Teachers; Also Have More Searches, Cameras

Some parents in Cliffside Park, New
Jersey, are agitating for random drug testing of teachers after one
middle school teacher was arrested for possession of heroin,
prescription meds, needles, and other paraphernalia. He and another
teacher were suspended with pay by the school district, and a third
teacher reportedly requested a leave related to the investigation.
Last week a child found a syringe in the boys bathroom. Although
school bus drivers in New Jersey must undergo drug testing, thanks
in part to union representation, there are no drug test mandates
for public school teachers. The Bergen Record
reports on parents’ reactions:

“I could care less for the unions” if they oppose this,
said one school parent who would not give her name. “The security
of my child is important.”

…Several parents — none of whom would give their name — said after
the [Thursday school board] meeting they would like the school to
install surveillance cameras, while another mom said she wanted
employees to be drug tested monthly.

“I trusted the teacher so much,” she said, though she would not
specify which educator taught her child. “I’m so
disappointed.”

Parents also had spoken out the previous evening, telling officials
at the school board meeting that they did not want the teachers
returning to work. Others called for more drug searches on
campuses.

All the teachers implicated are tenured, a job protection
originally fashioned to protect teachers from reprisals for the
content of their teaching. Even if heroin were legalized, leaving
syringes in the student bathroom isn’t something teachers ought to
be doing.