The Bush administration is urging widespread drug testing of secondary-school students, but only one state requires similar screening of school teachers, the Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail reported July 9.

According to the National School Boards Association, Hawaii recently made random drug testing a part of its teachers' contract, with testing slated to begin next year. In exchange, teachers got a big pay increase. During negotiations, Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle called the testing provision "nonnegotiable."

In West Virginia, the Kanawhy County school district considered, then rejected, a proposal to drug-test teachers. However, a teacher was recently arrested for drug possession, which could breathe new life into the proposal, which originally surfaced after an elementary-school principal was charged with cocaine possession. He later was acquitted and returned to his job.

"[Proposals to drug-test teachers are] usually sparked by an incident in the school or by an employee," said Lisa Soronen, staff attorney of the National School Boards Association. "That's the more common experience. But then there's the question of, is it really a problem or was it just a one-time thing?"

More school districts are looking into testing, she added, "but looking into it is a lot different than actually deciding to do it and develop a policy. It's one of those things that is easy to look at, but hard to decide how to do it. Because then they think of the expense and the constitutional issues involved."