Tony Turbeville
Math Teacher
Kawananakoa Middle School
IN THEIR OWN WORDS:
"By opposing this random drug testing policy, some people have asked whether I have something to hide. I tell them that I have nothing to hide, but I do have something to protect: my constitutional right to privacy. I am a teacher. I have a duty to teach my students that they have to stand up for their rights."
FULL BIO:
Tony Turbeville has spent 14 years with the Hawaii Department of Education. Currently a math teacher at Kawananakoa Middle School in Honolulu, Turbeville is deeply committed to teaching and feels that it is his calling. He cherishes his relationship with students and the opportunity to impart lessons that will serve them well both inside and outside of the classroom.
Before becoming a teacher, Turbeville served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy, including during the Vietnam War. Like many veterans, Turbeville has a profound respect for the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and feels a particular duty to protect these most basic rights.
“By opposing this random drug testing policy, some people have asked whether I have something to hide. I tell them that I have nothing to hide, but I do have something to protect: my constitutional right to privacy,” says Turbeville. “I am a teacher. I have a duty to teach my students that they have to stand up for their rights.”
Turbeville believes that the random drug testing of Hawaii’s teachers would represent a glaring violation of the right to personal privacy guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights. The Fourth Amendment protects Americans from unreasonable searches at the hands of the government.
In his 14 years as a teacher, Turbeville has never observed or known of a colleague to be under the influence of drugs while teaching or otherwise involved with students. In fact, he says that not a single Department of Education teacher has ever been found to be under the influence of drugs while on campus or working with students. He is also quick to point out that procedures are already in place to test and discipline educators who are reasonably suspected of drug or alcohol impairment.
With Hawaii’s schools struggling to meet basic educational needs, Turbeville is frustrated that scarce resources might be allocated toward an unnecessary and objectionable policy – a policy that tramples teachers’ rights while doing nothing to increase student safety. He feels the best lesson he can teach his students is to stand against this counterproductive and unconstitutional policy.
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