Letters to the Editor
Evan Dobelle already has backseat drivers
I suppose it was to be expected. The new UH prez, Evan Dobelle, gives his vision, and some of the legislative leaders have their own ideas they willingly express. Auwe!
Of course, that has been the problem all along. Too many cooks. Hopefully some day we can let a leader run with his vision without all this backseat driving.
I don't know the man, but I do know the process, as it has been and as it should be. Imua, Evan!
Bobby Cooper
Hilo
Inviting justice here would be a travesty
The point is that the ACLU is not obligated to invite Clarence Thomas here just because Antonin Scalia and Robert Rees have suggested it.
After his controversial confirmation, Clarence Thomas said that "he would have 43 more years to get even" with the American people, which he is doing with every vote. To honor this man by inviting him here would be a travesty.
These are not "debates" but appearances in which these right-wing "justices" get a free vacation at the Kahala Mandarin and a chance to promote themselves.
Nancy Bey Little
Both nominees should get judicial positions
While I appreciate your printing my July 19 letter in response to that of attorney Jim On regarding the appointments of lawyers Jim Duffy and Rick Clifton to the federal bench, I regret that you placed a "not" into my last paragraph, which changed the thrust of my letter.
President Clinton's nomination of Duffy for a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was never acted on by a Republican Senate and was then withdrawn by President Bush. I suggested that only after Bush renominates Duffy for a seat on the 9th Circuit bench should Bush's nomination of Clifton to a seat on the federal bench be considered by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
My objective was, and is, to move both parties to stop playing partisan politics with judicial nominees and to consider the public interest by elevating excellent lawyers to the federal bench irrespective of which party nominated them.
My last paragraph should have read: "Then, after both Duffy and Clifton are on the bench, perhaps each party can tacitly agree, for the future, to support a president's judicial appointments of highly qualified attorneys — regardless of party."
Richard Miller
'Pearl Harbor' plot failed as blockbuster
The movie "Pearl Harbor" wasn't about the historical retracing of Pearl Harbor. Hollywood had to make it into something of a summer blockbuster and failed miserably.
Every critic hit upon its less-than-accurate rendition of what actually happened on that fateful day but missed the point entirely. It was a love story with the bombing as a backdrop. That's Hollywood!
Craig Watanabe
Marion Higa knows what's in the closets
"Marion Higa for governor," wrote Glenn Shepherd in his July 19 one-liner. I second the motion.
Higa is one akamai lady. She knows more about the workings — and non-workings — of the components within this state's government than all the rest of our current crop of politicians put together.
And she's never afraid to "tell it as it is."
Elaine Stroup
Mansho, Mirikitani should hide faces
If we must stomach Rene Mansho and Andy Mirikitani sitting every day at the City Council meetings until her term ends and he finally goes to prison, then the least they can do is to sit there with brown paper bags over their heads.
Donald G. Micco
Wailuku
McCubbin's letter paints true picture
The July 13 letter from Hamilton McCubbin, CEO of Kamehameha Schools, is superb.
The letter provides information on the Ka Iwi shoreline, the zoning, the court's decision upholding the city and state positions, the appraisal value by the state and the schools, the just compensation of $12.85 million plus interest, and the condition that the schools retain the right to repurchase the land.
The letter is a sharp rebuttal to one by former Bishop Estate trustee Henry Peters that Ka Iwi was "stolen" from the Hawaiians and the current trustees are responsible.
McCubbin's letter is an accurate picture of Ka Iwi and not the distorted one by Peters.
How Tim Chang
Academy cancellation of film series saddening
It is with chagrin and disappointment I read of the Honolulu Academy of Arts' cancellation of Alice Anne Parker's film series. I had been looking forward to a bracing, stimulating evening and am outraged by George Ellis' capitulation to the smarmy forces of suppression.
The academy has always seemed to be a refuge from censorship, with its inclusive policy of alternate POVs and controversial artists. I am saddened by what appears to be a pandering to wealthy, provincial and calcified individuals who cannot tolerate dissent or deviation from black and white perceptions of artistic standards.
Ellis' statement that the academy plans to organize a community advisory committee to discuss ways of presenting the various issues facing women worldwide reads like Orwellian doublespeak, the same rigid, codified dismissal often co-opted by ultra-conservative fanatics determined to restrict artistic and intellectual freedoms.
I urge Ellis and the academy to reconsider their decision.
Alexandra Morgan
State never OK'd 2-year bonuses
As the state's chief negotiator in talks with the Hawai'i State Teachers Association, I think it is important to explain what led to our current contract dispute and why the state has not bowed to the latest demands by the union. Those who are quick to admonish the governor for not signing the contract have ignored these facts.
During negotiations, School Superintendent Paul LeMahieu proposed a one-time 3 percent bonus for teachers with master's of education degrees and professional diplomas from the University of Hawai'i's College of Education. He said the Department of Education would cover the cost with $6.7 million in federal impact aid funds, which the department receives to offset the cost of educating military dependents in Hawai'i.
The amount available was only enough to cover the cost for one year.
State and HSTA negotiators determined that cost together. The math is simple. Every year, the total teacher payroll is a half-billion dollars. We estimated that 40 percent of teachers qualify for this bonus; in other words, $200 million of the payroll. Three percent of $200 million is $6 million.
The state offered Dr. LeMahieu's proposed bonus to HSTA negotiators, who agreed to it on April 23. The $6 million was always represented as the cost for one year. Even two neutral third-party mediators, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie and Charles Toguchi, say they both understood it to be for one year only. These mediators were brought in at the mutual request of the union and the state.
In fact, $6 million is what appears on the union's own flier passed out at ratification as the "Total Cost of Package" for the bonus. The HSTA flier should have listed the bonus at $12 million if the union believed it was for two years.
The HSTA wrote up the 11-page tentative agreement that its teachers ratified on April 24. Somehow, in the union's haste of avoiding federal court intervention and getting the proposal ratified, the erroneous language was included. Regrettably, after marathon negotiations, the mistake was not caught when the write-up was finally completed at 5 a.m. on the day the teachers voted.
However, it is incorrect and deceptive to say that the state is "reneging on a deal" or to say this bonus was "promised" for two years. That is absolutely untrue. The state never agreed to pay for bonuses for two years.
As with any contract, both sides must review the written language and then ratify it. They could have chosen not to ratify as well. In either case, the teachers' ratification is only half of the process.
During the state's review, we discovered the agreement did not reflect the deal we had reached on April 23. The governor did not approve it, and the state formally objected to the union on May 1.
The governor has said the state will fund these bonuses for one year as agreed even if it costs up to $10 million. The state has compromised, considering this is 50 percent more than originally expected. The true cost has been difficult to resolve because the union, since the April 24 ratification, has demanded the pool for those who qualify for the bonus be expanded to include teachers with virtually any master's degree or professional diploma and some with bachelor's degrees.
For the state to give in further and expand the bonuses to two years would cost taxpayers $14 million more than both sides first agreed to. This is money the Legislature did not provide when it set aside $115 million in the budget for the teachers' contract. This means money would have to be taken from existing education programs to pay for an additional bonus never intended by the state and Board of Education.
In all of this, it is important to remember that this is a good contract. The state gave teachers a 16 percent pay raise and four days out of the classroom to pursue professional development.
Davis K. Yogi
Chief state negotiator
Hawai'i education needs a revolution
The "culture of profit" surrounding Hawai'i's efforts to improve special-education services should be of no surprise to anyone involved in education.
During the past two years, catch-phrases like "teacher accountability" and "performance objectives" have been circulating the state Capitol disguised as the prescription for educational reform and the cure for public education. These ideals are no doubt important; however, true educational reform starts with a fiscal and administrative network of accountability within our state school system.
For years, State Auditor Marion Higa has questioned the overall distribution of assets and expenditures within the Department of Education and has questioned the bureaucracy that has enfeebled public education for far too long. Recently, she told a legislative committee on special-education services that the DOE lacks any type of checks and balances regarding fiscal and managerial accountability.
How extensive is the DOE? I invite the taxpayer to find out exactly how many individuals are on the DOE payroll, full-time, part-time, contract, etc., and their position titles. How much money is given to our state by the federal government specifically earmarked for education and where does it go?
To better understand the wants and needs of our children, this bureaucratic behemoth must be confined to local school boards that can address the obligations of their students more effectively and efficiently. The following four steps are needed to help ensure honesty and integrity within our school system:
• Initiate a delineated and itemized state fiscal and management audit of the DOE and its $1.4 billion annual budget.
• Initiate a federal investigation of funds received by the state to find out where and how federal money earmarked for education has been spent.
• Publish the full unabridged results of those audits so Hawai'i's constituents can be better informed as to where their tax dollars are being spent.
• Call for a constitutional convention for the express purpose of abolishing the state-level DOE. In its place, require county school districts, each with its own elected board, each with a mandate to develop academic curricula (i.e., scope and sequence) for every discipline taught, from kindergarten to 12th grade and objective and measurable performance standards aligned to the curricula.
D. Perry Alexander
Elementary school teacher
