Update: Drug Dogs and Tax Protests

I’ve blogged recently on drug dogs in our public schools and mentioned the growing, grass-roots anti-tax movement known as Tea Parties happening in cities across the nation in my April Editor’s Page.

Some updates, for those interested in learning more, or speaking out (in whichever direction moves you).

Senior staff attorney Daniel Gulick, with ACLU of Hawaii, emailed us to let readers know that the Board of Education will be holding public hearings throughout this month for proposed changes to the DOE’s administrative rules.

Writes Gulick, “The proposed changes explicitly allow for both drug-sniffing dogs and suspicionless searches of students’ lockers (i.e., students’ lockers, and the contents thereof, can be searched at any time for any reason (or no reason at all)).”

For a schedule of public hearings, go here and click on "notice of public hearings."

You can see the ACLU’s testimony against these changes, and submit your own, here.

In more taxing news, Small Business Hawaii reports that local Tax Day Tea Party protests are now scheduled for Maui, the Big Island and Honolulu.

Feeling overtaxed? The local movement has a Web site with more information on the protests here.

See all Off My Desk posts here.