Drug Testing for Teachers?

Should teachers be subjected to random drug testing? That's a debate currently circulating through the U.S. court system, notes a Time analysis of the issue.

Time reports that one major study found little evidence of illicit drug use among teachers, raising the question of whether this is a solution in search of a problem.

Another question is whether random drug testing reduces drug use. But the biggest factor for perennially budget-strapped schools is probably cost. In the West Virginia court case, says the Time article, urine testing will cost the school district roughly $37,000.

"That same $37,000 could easily pay for a full-time teacher, meaning that drug testing would have to be sufficiently valuable to displace an entire teaching position," the article states.