The state Board of Education is trying to stall teacher drug testing by refusing to pay for the tests out of the state Department of Education's $2.2 billion budget, board member Lei Ahu-Isa said yesterday.

Public school teachers agreed to random drug tests as part of a new contract approved last year that included salary increases of up to 11 percent.

On Jan. 24, the Board of Education voted 7-0 to not pay for the $500,000 teacher drug testing program.

Ahu-Isa yesterday held a news conference accusing BOE chairwoman Donna Ikeda of "playing politics" by scheduling the vote on teacher drug testing when nearly half of the 13 voting board members couldn't attend the meeting.

"The decision to place this on the agenda when it was known as early as a month ago that six of our members could not be present shows the divisiveness of this board," Ahu-Isa said.

Ikeda was out of town yesterday and could not be reached for comment.

However, Ikeda has said that the board's meeting calendar, which set Jan. 24 as a date for a general meeting, was approved in October. Ikeda has also said she supports drug testing, but is against the Department of Education paying for it.

Gov. Linda Lingle has said that all parts of the teacher's contract must be honored.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.