High Standards

By Logan Ferrell

The jubilee that has accompanied the coming of the inauguration has been tempered in these last few weeks by the continuing coverage of the corruption of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. This event refocused the spotlight on the dark side of American politics, premeditated corruption which betrays the trust of the people.

Concern over the rationalized abuse of power by an office holder evokes an even more disturbing question; what could we expect of public officials who do wrong because they aren’t thinking clearly?

Over the past several months, debates have been raging at the local and state level in West Virginia on whether public school teachers should be subjected to random drug testing. It is a debate which is just as relevant here in Virginia as anywhere else.

However, in my view, it is an issue which transcends the teaching profession and in truth can be applied to every form of public service or government worker.

As I see it, the government “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” should be left in the hands of those willing to devote their careers and time to protecting the sanctity of such a passage.

Our government should be the employer of men and women who come to work wanting to serve, help, and protect the average citizen. This means all those from the teachers of Kanawha County, West Virginia to the lowest receptionist at the Department of the Interior.

We should set the highest standards possible; we should strive to ensure that government, at any level, is run by devoted professionals. It seems to me that a goal such as this necessitates a policy based in preemptive measures.

Future contracts for positions like that of teachers should include the clear definition of testing as a regular process, rather than as a reactionary policy based in single cases. To set the bar and maintain it, testing must be random; it is the only real way to preempt the problem rather than merely reduce it.

It is indeed a frightening spectacle, the idea of a drug addict in a position as crucial to our society as that of a teacher in the classroom or a policeman on our streets.

To hope that addicts will not apply, and treat the occasional case; is not enough to protect the role of public service. Only if we take the necessary steps now, can we secure a future governed by those who have the people’s best interest at heart.