Northwest Indiana Discussion

Not just public officials, but every adult in the city of Gary (including myself) must be held accountable for the quality of education our children are receiving. Our children are being deprived a quality education comparable to surrounding municipalities because a great portion of our selfish educators and administrators are focused on one thing. I am not referring to our children. Their professionalism should prevail over any preoccupation they may have. But unfortunately, drug addition is more complicated then we can imagine.

The recent news I received regarding rampant drug usage in the Gary Community School Corporation enables me to see a bigger picture of our problematic school system. It isn’t hard to believe because of the condition of our school system. The individuals who revealed to me the existence of drug usage in our school system are not only credible, but their input coincides with our children’s deplorably bad ISTEP test scores.

Starting with Dr. Steele and on down, every employee of the School Corporation should be tested immediately for drugs. Those who test positive should be given one chance to seek help. After that, it should be zero tolerance on the usage of drugs while employed by the Gary Community School Corporation. Mandatory and random testing will insure that every employee is in compliance with the zero tolerance of drug usage.

There is no reason on this earth for any employee to oppose this other than individuals with a drug dependency. Their dependency is cheating our children out of a quality education. While they are preoccupied with the desire to get high, our children are secondary on their teaching agenda.

This is not a complicated process. The amount of opposition to the implementation of a zero tolerance drug policy will determine the severity of our problem, and the number of drug dependent employees. This is not only a suggestion, it is a necessity for our children’s future. I anticipate a tremendous amount of opposition.

When an individual is pulled over for a traffic infraction, the responding police officer can discretionarily administer a sobriety test to insure public safety. I think employees of the school corporation should be held under the same scrutiny. After all, the road our children are using to acquire their education is in the path of individuals whose thinking capabilities have been compromised by drugs.

Dwight Taylor