Hawaii school teachers signed off on first-in-the-nation statewide random drug testing in exchange for pay raises, but state authorities continue to claim the educators are trying to take the money and run.

Since the Hawaii teachers union approved the pact nearly two years ago, they've accepted the 11 percent boost in pay and fought the random tests as an illegal violation of their privacy rights. No teacher has been tested.

The showdown over teacher drug testing arose from the highly publicized arrests of several state Education Department employees in unrelated drug cases over six months.

None of the cases involved drug use in the classroom, and the teachers union argues there are only a few bad apples among the 13,000 public school teachers in the state's single public school district.

The union says it didn't consent to truly random drug testing in the contract, which says the parties “;agree to negotiate reasonable suspicion and random drug and alcohol testing procedures.”;

Their definition of “;random”; is limited to a pool of teachers who go on field trips, work with disabled children, are frequently absent or have criminal records.

“;Random testing isn't going to suddenly increase test scores,”; said Mike McCartney, executive director for the Hawaii State Teachers Association. “;This is a huge distraction from how to make our schools better.”;

State government officials say teachers are trying to wiggle out of the deal, which is now awaiting a ruling from a labor board. The squabble may end up in court.

“;I can't understand why any average Joe, anyone of reasonable mind would object to this. It's good for the schools, teachers and state,”; said Marie Laderta, director of the Department of Human Resources Development who negotiated the contract. “;They're just trying to get out of doing it.”;

Only a handful of school districts nationwide require random teacher drug testing of existing employees, many of them in Kentucky. HSTA officials say only five school districts in the country have implemented random drug testing, but the National Education Association didn't have a count of how many schools randomly test teachers.

In the Knott County school district in rural eastern Kentucky, one-fourth of teachers have been randomly drug-tested annually since 2004, when administrators who wanted to drug-test students involved in extracurricular activities decided to hold teachers to the same standard.

“;The teachers didn't like the random part at first. Suspicionless testing is what they were concerned about,”; said William Madden, director of pupil personnel for the seven-school, 2,570-student district. “;It's going real well. Everyone is accepting it.”;

The Knott County testing started after a U.S. District Court judge ruled that drug testing without suspicion of use had been upheld in a previous case in Knox County, Tenn. However, the Knox County case dealt with testing when teachers were hired rather than continuous, random testing of all teachers. Today, Knox County does not randomly test its existing teachers.

Gov. Linda Lingle sought random teacher drug testing after the spate of teacher arrests. The state could not produce evidence teacher drug use is on the rise.

“;There were a few cases all at once, and that's why the issue came about,”; said Dana Shishido, a third-grade teacher at Wheeler Elementary School who opposes random drug testing. “;It was insulting to look at the pay raise and that it had to come tied to the issue of random drug testing.”;

The teachers approved the contract in April 2007 with 61 percent of the vote. By January, when they receive some of the pay hikes, the starting annual pay for new teachers will be $43,157, and teachers with more than 33 years of experience will earn $79,170 a year.

The Board of Education has refused to spend money for drug testing because its members say those dollars would be better used in the classroom. At $35 a teacher, it would cost about $455,000 to test all the state's teachers. Failed drug tests would result in suspension or termination.

“;Few if any teachers test positive because it's not something that people who go into teaching do. It's not part of the teaching culture,”; said Michael Simpson, assistant general counsel for the National Education Association. “;It's an expensive program, and the money can be better spent reducing class sizes or providing needed resources.”;

About 4 percent of teachers nationwide reported using illegal drugs, among the lowest rates of any profession, according to a 2007 study from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, an agency within the Health and Human Services Department. The federal study showed the overall drug usage rate among full-time workers at 8.2 percent.

Honolulu city workers agreed to random drug testing earlier this year. Those with commercial driver's licenses and first responders like police and firefighters also must consent to random testing.