Hawai'i's public education system fails our children, I strongly feel, every time the state goes to battle with the HSTA. It's either the state quibbling over money that reportedly doesn't exist for teachers or the educators themselves crying out "Show. Me. The. Money!"

And as a result of a statewide teacher's strike, nickel-and-diming collective bargaining and a long-standing mistrust between administrators and teachers, the children of Hawai'i become classified as collateral damage in this unreformed environment.

I did not want my children to be classified in anything other than the successfully happy, properly educated student category and, thus, I began home schooling in 1999. It's a decision I have not regretted. While home schooling isn't for everyone, the public school system certainly isn't for our family.

Sandy Kahealani
Satori Dharma Home School Hawai'i

Want to succeed? Follow the rules

What is school? A place that prepares one to succeed in the work force. In the work force, there are rules to be followed — for safety, health, job requirements, status of company, etc. No matter where you go, there are always rules to follow to succeed.

Tell that wahine to shape up on the Baldwin High dress code.Follow the rules and graduate.

Robert Rodrigues
Melbourne, Fla.

ERS trustees take their duties seriously

We are thankful for Robert K. Fukuda's April 11 letter to the editor expressing his concern that politicians were using the Employees' Retirement System as their private bank. Based on his experiences and observations, Mr. Fukuda stated that the ERS trustees were making bad loans and investments at the behest of politicians. This may have happened in the past, but it certainly is not the case today.

My fellow trustees and I are cognizant of our fiduciary responsibilities and know that our first duty is to 30,000 state and county retirees and beneficiaries. We take this responsibility very seriously because our job is to do more than simply maximize a return on investment. Our job is to safeguard the future of thousands of government employees.

That is why we have consistently testified in opposition to legislation that would mandate the ERS to make high-risk venture capital investments in Hawai'i.

Moreover, we are governed by the "prudent person" rule, which requires us to discharge our duties in a fiduciary manner solely for the interests of our members.

In response to Mr. Fukuda's concerns on the Legislature's confiscation of ERS' investment earnings over 10 percent, we are pleased to report that this is no longer the situation. In 1999, the Legislature passed a law to stop the skimming of ERS' investment earnings, which were being used to balance the state and counties' budgets for decades. This will help us to rebuild our asset base to pay for the pension benefits that have been promised to current and future retirees.

Toby Martyn
Chairman, ERS Board of Trustees

City budget 'support' was set up by Harris

Regarding Patty Teruya's May 5 letter: There was not anything incredible about 600 people showing up at City Hall to oppose the proposed cuts to the Harris administrative budget when you consider that the Harris administration burned up the phone lines, e-mail address lists and faxes to rally his supporters to come and testify on behalf of his proposed budget.

Harris was on hand to give all of his "people" a pep talk before they went into the budget hearing.

I don't think it was the budget chairwoman who wasn't listening but the 600 Harris supporters who are in denial of the fact that the money is not in the city coffers. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. It is very simple: Cut the budget, or your property taxes are going to have to be raised.

It is time for a reality check where the City and County of Honolulu's budgets are concerned.

Sharon McCarthy
Hau'ula

Procurement system needs to be overhauled

I find the comments by the contractor and DAGS' chief of the procurement unit amazing, unbelievable and appalling.

In this method, fraudulent actions appear to be a low priority and of little concern to the procurement chief. "I'm glad you reminded me ... I didn't even think about it." What?

It is apparent that this person needs direction and help. Here are some recommendations:

Always remember that you represent the taxpayers of this state. A contractor and manufacturer who admit to fraud probably can't be trusted. I recommend that you check every single project they completed to make sure there are no more "slips through the crack." Give the contractor and manufacturer a "zero" for professionalism and honesty in their procurement rating to show other contractors and manufacturers that the state will not tolerate deception. Ask for a warranty that is signed by the manufacturer's authorized person identifying the different roofing manufacturers and products. Ask yourself if procurement system really works.

I hope this helps and you arrive at the right answers for the state's taxpayers.

Val Yanagihara

Treatment for drugs far better than prison

Regarding Guy Chang's May 3 letter: His plea to "wake up" regarding a major drug problem in Hawai'i, and the victims left without hope, makes its own argument to his letter.

The truth is that treatment works for people who are chemically dependent; incarceration does not. It is not about "making them reform," it is about helping them get well.

Arizona and California have diversion programs to treatment versus incarceration that have proven remarkably effective. It has long been known by treatment professionals that money spent on treatment provides approximately a seven-to-one rate of return.The possible savings in medical costs, productivity in the workplace, and lost time and services to employers and to the public at large is almost unimaginable.

If families are the major source of concern, we should all be cheering and supporting those treatment centers that encourage and provide family education as a critical element of their program.We should insist that health insurance companies recognize the need for and fund treatment for families affected by this condition.

Families of those in treatment for chemical dependency are not left without hope. It is in that treatment program that they regain the concept and begin to hope again.

Ernest P. Reese
Wai'anae

Textbook situation in Hawai'i is deplorable

Every reputable teacher knows that textbooks are the best friends of students and teachers.

How would you like to go to a physician who has never had a textbook on human anatomy and physiology? Auto mechanics consult textbooks to fix cars.

The textbook situation in this state is deplorable and needs to change ASAP. Is anybody listening to the anguished cries of parents and concerned citizens who fail to comprehend how people who hold our children in their hands seem to be totally indifferent to their welfare?

David T. Webb
Mililani

Firefighters displayed speed and efficiency

On May 8, my wife and I witnessed the speed and efficiency of our Fire Department. A three-story structure on Kalikimaka Street adjacent to our house caught fire after an explosion.

About 10 minutes after the fire was reported, the first of several trucks was on the scene, hoses were laid out and water was pumped onto the blaze. The overall effort was well coordinated and the personnel polite and efficient.

Well done, HFD — you have won our admiration and respect.

Lloyd and Eva Kim

O'ahu retirement community doing well

We want to reassure our many friends throughout the Islands that Hawai'i Kai Retirement Community and Assisted Living is alive and well and in our fifth year of providing full-service retirement living.

We are in no way connected with "Hawai'i Kai Assisted Living" or other entities in our field that have recently been reported as filing for bankruptcy or with other financial problems.

Just stop by and see what the finest retirement community in Hawai'i looks like.

Diane Alberto
Hawai'i Kai Community and Assisted Living

Garden sale just hype

Being an avid gardener, I read with great interest "Foster Garden sale to feature favorite fragrant, edible plant" in the May 5 edition and looked forward to the fair on May 11. Unfortunately, what I saw was just a small-scale exhibit of some plants that did not match the hype of the above article. Perhaps it was interesting for some, but for me it was just "garden variety."

Raj Bose

Solution to traffic isn't more concrete

I can't believe what I read in Cliff Slater's Second Opinion column of April 23 that "Traffic congestion is curable." He suggests the solution to our traffic problem is as simple as pouring more concrete and bulldozing more homes to build freeways.

Well, as a child, I remember the displaced residents and disruption that H-1 did to Kaimuki and Kapahulu. It reminds me of the words to an old song, " ... they paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

Do we really want less green and more asphalt? No thanks, Cliff. This is not the Hawai'i I want to leave to my children.

Dianna Lee
Kane'ohe

We must care for the marginalized

Webster's Dictionary defines "marginalizing" as excluding, or ignoring, especially by relegating to the outer edges of a group or by diverting the public's attention somewhere else.

We certainly are aware of that process in our community, as we avoid eye contact with street people, turn the TV up when we hear our neighbors fighting, ignore that woman talking to herself at the bus stop, pretend that the disabled, handicapped child isn't there, cross the street to avoid the bad-mouthing, belligerent teenager in our path.

These are individuals we stigmatize because they have "no class," because they affect our comfort level, because they don't fit in, because we don't know what to do about them. These are individuals whom we relegate to the outer edges of our community, where marginalizing becomes institutionalized.

The health and human services safety net that allows single parents, abandoned children and youth, the homeless, the elderly, the developmentally disabled population and mentally ill persons, among others, to survive in the social margins of our society without a fear of failing must not give way as public officials shuffle county and state dollars to attend to the holes in the economic dike. Puka in the safety net will be much more devastating in the long run to our Hawai'i Nei, economically as well as humanistically.

We have the knowledge to assist in bringing the marginal among us in from the edge, where they can contribute to the community. We must provide for basic needs, including shelter, food, clothing and healthcare.

In the absence of these safety net resources, people simply, or not so simply, die. What doesn't always come in the safety net package is the wherewithal for people to get out of the net, or off the tightrope, or in from the outer edge.

Health and human service agencies do provide the wherewithal. Wherewithal includes remedial education, healthcare classes, job training, teaching of social skills, peer mentoring for role modeling, psycho-social rehabilitation programs to reinforce recovery from mental illness and many more low-cost, rich-in-impact services to enable people to step up from dependency to independence, from needing to succeeding, from mean streets to decent housing, from ill health to wellness, from being mentally ill to becoming mentally well, and from no income to living-wage paydays.

The marginalized must be kept in mind. In the absence of services to address the health, safety and social recovery needs of our marginal citizenry, the number of people on the edge will increase, the numbers falling out of the safety net will grow and the dollars needed to fix the problem in future years may be staggering. We need to look to the present and future well-being of our community members, first and foremost.