Posted on: Monday, September 29, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Needing improvement doesn't mean failing

If you were going to run a road race and set a personal goal of finishing in less than 15 minutes but your actual time was 16 minutes, would you consider yourself a failure? Not likely. You ran your best and maybe you just need a little additional training — improvement, if you will — to meet your next time. Needing improvement doesn't mean failing.

The recently released Hawai'i Opinion Poll on Public Education shows that most people agree public schools are doing an adequate job in Hawai'i. But everyone agrees that it's still important to constantly look for opportunities for improvement. Needing improvement doesn't mean failing.

The most recent piece of the No Child Left Behind puzzle provides that kind of opportunity to Hawai'i schools. The Department of Education just released statewide test results that established Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, which is a major section of the federal law aimed at helping schools and students succeed.

With the release of this report, our schools found out just how well they are doing. However, the complexity of the federal law resulted in a number of schools being deemed "in need of improvement," which is the wording used in No Child. There have been references made that schools in need of improvement are "failing," which is unfair, misleading and inaccurate, and is demoralizing to students, educators, parents and the community. None of us wants that.

Our public schools are doing a good job. Our students deserve positive support and encouragement.

DOT should note improved traffic flow

With the just-ended bus strike, I hope the Department of Transportation takes advantage of traffic lessons that can be learned.

Traffic did not increase in all areas; in fact, traffic improved in some areas, without the buses slowing the flow of traffic. Morning traffic out of Nanakuli was much better without the buses making numerous stops.

Hard-working middle class is taxed again

The losers in this contract dispute are the bus drivers and the general public. The bus drivers lost out 30 days of pay. Many of them will never make up the lost wages and savings.

The winner is the union president. Why did the settlement come after the announcement of his running unopposed? Was he holding out to get re-elected? Does this make you wonder?

The losers are the working families paying high property taxes to support government. Working-class mothers, fathers and children are going to have to pay more for supporting mass transit. Originally, the June increase was to avoid the loss of 22 routes that took effect on July 1. Now our City Council is increasing elderly fares and monthly bus passes for adults and students. A family of four with a working mother ($40) and working father ($40) and two teenage children ($20 and $20) will have a $120 bill on top of the property tax increase. Is increasing the bus fares a way to increase taxes?

The winners are the City Council and mayor. They look good in the public's eye for getting the buses back on the road. Do you see council members riding the bus? Why do the City Council and mayor not have to pay downtown parking prices to the city for parking their air-conditioned cars? Should we vote for ineffective government?

It looks as if the hard-working middle class is taxed again.

Children don't belong in pickup truck beds

I was appalled to see on the front of the Sept. 25 Hawai'i section a photograph of a 2-year-old girl standing inside the back of a pickup truck parked at Weed Circle Intersection. This would give readers a wrong and dangerous notion that it is all right to ride this way — unrestrained and under open air.

The law requires even rear-seat passengers to be restrained by seat belts, and if they are too small to be secured by an adult seat belt, they must be fitted in a child-restraint seat or booster seat.

Sadly, this law is rarely enforced. Don't people realize that even a mild sudden stop can throw a small, light-weight body off the vehicle? It is sickening enough to see big adults sitting in the back of a pickup truck. And it denigrates the attitude of concern for public safety to see a picture of a child in it.

Can we contribute to police officers, too?

My son is a police officer. He doesn't make enough money. We really want him to stay here rather than have him move to the Mainland, where he could make more money for doing essentially the same job.

I would like to donate money to the Police Benevolence Association so it could increase my son's salary and I could take a tax deduction. In light of Bank of Hawaii and First Hawaiian Bank's arrangement with the University of Hawai'i Foundation, I assume this is acceptable. If not, why not?

Football fans who believe the coach deserves more money are free to give him up to $10,000 a year (also $10,000 to his wife) without any tax consequences to themselves or to the coach without fraudulently forcing the taxpayer or any stockholders to subsidize their love of university sports. And they could legally keep it a secret as well.

Why did we go to war?

On Friday, I learned from your paper that Iraq was not making or stockpiling smallpox. Earlier in the week, President Bush told us that Saddam had no involvement in the 9-11 attacks. No evidence of weapons of mass destruction has been found, and, from what I can remember, Iraq neither attacked us nor attacked one of our allies. So, could someone please tell me why, then, did we go to war with Iraq?

He'eia Park community needs to come to rescue

What a shame that He'eia Park has been burglarized (Advertiser, Sept. 23). We have such fond memories of He'eia, even back to the time when our kids were small and it was a commercial operation.

We were so happy when it became a public park, but the state has neglected it, and we are lucky to have "the Friends" taking care of it and offering such wonderful programs, as well as preserving an absolutely priceless piece of land on Kane'ohe Bay.

Now they have lost what little they have, and I think the community needs to crank up and help. It will only take 60 of us to send in $100 each or 100 of us to send in $60 each. I suggest we do so and think about donating a little time and elbow grease, too. We can't lose this wonderful resource.

Shame on you selfish, thoughtless people who would do this.

Why did we wait for ice to become an epidemic?

I watched Edgy Lee's program on the ice epidemic. I wasn't shocked. I wasn't surprised. Ice and the effects of this drug have been with the people of Hawai'i for a couple of decades now, and we all should have been aware of the results.

Why is it that we wait until a problem becomes an epidemic before we start the battle? By this time, we have no money, we have no manpower, and the onus is now on the communities to fight and "get back their neighborhood," a plan that could be potentially dangerous to innocent folks.

The most poignant moment to me was the dad who cried and said he has been battling his daughter's addiction alone for six years with no programs available and that the state was in denial. We can't go back. The problem is here and thriving. I only hope whatever plans this administration has in store saves our state from impending disaster.

Memories stirred by baseball column

I enjoyed reading Mike Leidemann's About Men column "In a baseball fanatic's fantasy, even a spouse is out of place." It brought back memories of listening to L.A. Dodgers games on the radio when I was growing up in 'Aiea.

Part of the fun was that there was always that couple-second delay between Vin Scully's dulcet tones saying "and here's the 2-2 pitch" and when he described what happened. Oooh, the anticipation!

And even though we rarely have the time to catch a game on radio or television as we get older, it's amazing how men have a much easier time remembering earned run averages compared to, say, our spouse's birthday. Of course, a few lucky guys take advantage of this innate ability by becoming what's known as a "sportscaster."

Science requirements will hurt band electives

Regarding the Sept. 19 letter from Derek Kauanoe: It is very surprising that the public knows more about education than the BOE.

Someone at the state level pursued adding science requirements at the middle school level, which was approved by the BOE and will go into effect next school year, 2004-05. As a result, many schools will have to cut a semester of their band elective to make room for this added requirement.

I was told that each middle school band program will be at the mercy of its principal. This decision has nothing to do with money, but instead is a push for improvement in science (at the expense of the electives). Some middle schools will do a seven-period schedule to save the music programs.

Many public high schools require low readers to take a year of reading class. At Farrington, those students will miss an elective either the first or second half of the year. Many band programs force their students to attend summer school to free an elective so they can continue to fit band in their schedules. Since many schools are on modified schedules, the summer is too short to fit a six-week summer class. This class also costs money.

Mr. Kauanoe showed evidence on how music affects students. If music programs are cut at the elementary and middle school levels, most surely the high school bands will be affected, too. And yes, of course, so will the university. Mr. Kauanoe, thank you for that terrific letter. I hope the BOE read it.

Kamehameha's reach in state is far

Many people think that Kamehameha Schools provides education only at its three campuses and have not focused on the huge new catalog of educational services that are now provided from the legacy of Princess Pauahi.

Kamehameha's strategic plan, developed over two years with input from more than 4,000 members of the community, aims to extend the schools' reach far into our communities through outreach programs, innovative partnerships and scholarships.

As a result of that process, the trustees have adopted a multi-level educational plan that begins in early childhood and carries on into adulthood.

Last year, the Pauahi Keiki Scholars program provided financial aid for 200 keiki to attend qualified pre-schools in areas with a high percentage of Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian families.

Through the Ho'okako'o Corp., with its independent board of directors, Kamehameha Schools provides more than $1.3 million in annual financial and educational support to conversion charter schools in areas with a high percentage of part-Hawaiian students. The first charter school under this program, in Waimea on Hawai'i Island, began classes in August.

Through the Ho'olako Like program, Kamehameha provides funding and training for up to 13 startup Hawaiian-focused, Hawaiian-based charter schools that serve more than 1,000 students on O'ahu, Hawai'i and Kaua'i.

Kamehameha Schools provides more than $16 million annually in college and graduate school financial assistance to more than 3,500 local students, most of whom did not graduate from Kamehameha.

Kamehameha funds high-quality enrichment and summer programs to more than 5,000 students around the state.

Not all Kamehameha Schools beneficiaries today are of Hawaiian ancestry. And the outreach programs of the trustees' strategic plan continue to grow and extend their reach.

The crown jewels of the Kamehameha Schools, of course, are the Kapalama campus and the two new K-12 campuses on Maui and Hawai'i. Each year, the admissions staff follows a carefully structured review process. In 2002, for example, the admissions staff considered more than 4,500 applications for about 450 openings.

The trustees and their advisory committee passionately believe that preference in admission to the three campuses should continue to be given to children of Hawaiian ancestry. There are so many beautiful young children who have some Hawaiian ancestry and who look to the Kamehameha campuses as the step up on the road to success in life.