Schools commission appointee/KPI paid lobbyist Dave Trabert authored a policy brief last year in which he advocates eliminating state funding for any activity which is governed by a drug testing policy. Producing well-rounded students is apparently an undue burden on the state.
“Since the ‘educational interests of the state’ as referenced in the state Constitution are not defined, it is left to legislators to ultimately determine. There are many divergent opinions among Kansans as to what should or should not be included, but some local school districts have, in a sense, already weighed in on the issue. We can examine their drug-testing policies as proxies for their thoughts on which activities are included in the state’s ‘educational interests’ and which are excluded.
A number of Kansas school districts have adopted policies over the years that require students to agree to submit to random drug tests as a requirement to participate in extracurricular activities such as sports, band, school dances, graduation ceremonies, and even parking in the school lot. If school districts have the legal authority to exclude a student from participating in these activities simply because they will not agree in advance to submit to random drug screenings, it stands to reason that these activities are not part of a basic education from a legal standpoint. While perhaps untested, it is hard to imagine that a district can prevent a student from taking a math class without prior agreement to submit to drug testing.” KPI Policy Brief – Student-Focused Funding Solutions for Public Education.