ACLU of Hawaii E-Newsletter: Teachers Join Us

ALOHA EDUCATORS!

Thank you for your interest and courage in helping the ACLU challenge the random teacher drug testing policy. We write to provide several important updates:

• The Attorney General of Hawaii has guaranteed that your employer is barred from retaliating against you for participating in the ACLU’s legal challenge, for contacting us for information, or for publicly expressing your opposition to the teacher drug testing policy. Get details >>

• Today’s Honolulu Advertiser ran an opinion-editorial supporting your constitutional rights. Please submit a supportive Letter to the Editor now! Get details >>

• Gov. Lingle’s deadline for canceling the teacher drug testing policy is November 15th. Find out what happens next. Get details >>

Honolulu Weekly, 10/17/07

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF HAWAII CONFIRMS THAT EMPLOYERS ARE BARRED FROM RETALIATING AGAINST TEACHERS

We heard from many of you a few weeks ago that a Clayton Fujie, the Deputy Superintendent for the DOE, sent an email to principals throughout Hawaii. The email, a glaring First Amendment violation, instructed principals to tell teachers not to speak to the ACLU or the media about the random teacher drug testing issue or the ACLU’s recently-filed case advocating the educational rights of homeless children. We notified Hawaii’s Attorney General that the gag-order email had been sent, and he agreed with us that it should be retracted because it violated your constitutionally protected freedom of speech.

On October 19, Clayton Fujie sent the following clarifying email to all principles (our emphasis added):

I previously sent an email on 10/12/07 regarding drug testing and a lawsuit that has been filed concerning the DOE's discharge of its responsibilities for the education of homeless children and youth.

I wish to clarify a few items.

1. Drug Testing
DOE employees are, of course, free to express their personal views about drug testing or other matters of public concern, through words or actions, to the media, the ACLU, or others, orally or in writing, and nothing in my prior email should be taken as putting any limitations on employees' abilities to express their views on drug testing or other matters of public concern, through words or actions, or requiring that expressing those views must first be cleared with or reported to anyone. My statement in my email that: "If you are thinking about saying, doing, writing, etc. anything on these matters, please clear with Susan Kitsu, Pat H. or me verbally," is retracted and thus should not be followed. Of course, no one would be disciplined or retaliated against for expressing their personal views about drug testing or other matters of public concerns, through words or actions.

2. The Homeless Lawsuit
Second, a lawsuit has been filed concerning the DOE's discharge of its responsibilities for the education of homeless children and youth ("the homeless lawsuit"). My earlier email did not in any way concern calls to or contacts with DOE employees by persons seeking to obtain or otherwise facilitate educational and related services for homeless children and youth. Such contacts or calls should be handled in a business-as-usual way to best facilitate the appropriate provisions of services, and need not be referred to Holly Shikada. Of course, anyone contacted is free to contact Ms. Shikada if they think that they need legal advice. Her email is holly.t.shikada@hawaii.gov and her telephone number is 586-1255.

Managerial level employees should contact Ms. Shikada if contacted about the "homeless lawsuit" before first talking about it with anyone outside the DOE. If you are a non-managerial level employee, for example, a teacher, and you receive calls or contacts about or concerning the "homeless lawsuit" itself, as opposed to calls or contacts relating to requests for services for homeless students, to facilitate the provision of services, or the extent of such services, please exercise reasoned professional discretion whether to respond yourself or to refer the matter to Ms. Shikada:

1) an employee who discusses the "homeless lawsuit" with persons outside the DOE might inadvertently provide confidential information about students or privileged information that the employee is not allowed to disclose outside the DOE; or 2) an employee may need to first discuss with Ms. Shikada whether the information sought is, in fact, related to the "homeless lawsuit" or is privileged and whether it may or may not be provided to persons outside the DOE.

In sum, non-managerial level DOE employees who are queried or contacted about or concerning the pending "homeless lawsuit" by persons outside the DOE may respond without first contacting Ms. Shikada, as long as they do not improperly divulge confidential or privileged information about students or otherwise act in contravention of established DOE policies.

THE HONOLULU ADVERTISER PRINTS ACLU OPINION-EDITORIAL; WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR!

Check out today’s opinion-editorial by Vanessa Chong, Executive Director of the ACLU of Hawaii.

The public needs to hear from as many teachers as possible who support an end to the random drug testing policy, so please take a moment to submit a Letter to the Editor. Remember, the Governor can still retract the policy! You can visit www.aclu.org/teachersjoinus to get ideas about what to say in your letter – but the best letters usually come straight from the heart. Instructions for submitting a Letter to the Editor of the Honolulu Advertiser follow:

The Advertiser welcomes letters in good taste on any topic. All letters must be submitted with the writer's true name, address and telephone number, which we will use only for verification purposes. Letters are limited to one per writer per month and limited to about 200 words. We cannot accept submissions using the online form from anyone under age 13 in accordance with the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

To submit your letter, you can e-mail, use our online form, fax, mail or drop it off. See an example of a Letter to the Editor and read our five quick tips for writing one.

GOV. LINGLE'S NOV. 15 DEADLINE: WHAT'S NEXT?

As many of you know, we served Gov. Lingle a letter demanding that she retract the ill-conceived teacher drug testing policy. Check out our press release about the demand letter here. November 15th is just around the corner, and we want to let you know what our plans are.

Unfortunately, we do not expect the Governor to rescind the drug testing policy on November 15th. Thus, we are actively preparing to file a lawsuit on this matter. We would like to speak to as many educators as possible who may be interested in joining the lawsuit by the end of the year. Please help us spread the word and encourage people to contact us, because your freedom is worth fighting for! Remember, they can reach us by:

• Calling toll-free at (888) 9-JoinUs
• Emailing teachersjoinus@aclu.org
• Filling out an online form at www.aclu.org/teachersjoinus

Thank you again for your interest and courage in helping us put an end to this unconstitutional policy!