Wisconsin is the first state to enact a new testing law, and it's just as controversial as testing of the 3 R's:
Wisconsin has enacted what appears to be the nation’s first law requiring students to be tested for HIV if teachers or other school employees can prove they were significantly exposed to the students’ blood while on the job.
The law, which critics view as an unwarranted intrusion on privacy, gives employees of Wisconsin public and private schools the same rights as emergency personnel, medical workers, correctional officers, and group-home workers to require blood tests under comparable circumstances.
Is this a "sensible protection for the men and women who are responsible for educating" young Wisconsinites, as a spokesman for Gov. James E. Doyle says? Or is it "a safety net full of holes," as the spokewoman for an AIDS education groups claims? The state's teachers' union supports the measure, which has the following requirements:
First, [the teacher] must prove that they had taken precautions to the extent possible, such as using protective gloves or eyewear, against exposure at the time of the contact. They must also produce a letter from a physician stating that they were significantly exposed, and must submit to an HIV test themselves.
I suppose the "precautions" part is so that teachers stop and think before mopping up any blood or body fluids; the one example given in the article, though, was a case in which the blood transfer was unexpected.
Posted by kswygert at April 28, 2004 02:59 PM