PEOPLE FAILING NO. 1 DUTY — TO CHILDREN

Forget the fact that the state is in debt. Forget the fact that teachers' families are going to suffer from the cuts.

Think for a moment what the duty of the state is.

To protect the citizens so that all may move into a future as good as the present. That means protecting the welfare and potential of our children.

How can that be if we eliminate 18 percent of their education? The U.S. already lags embarrassingly behind most "western" countries. So, Hawai'i's answer is what? Eliminate one-fifth of the school calendar.

I don't care if you are a Republican or a Democrat. The people are failing their primary responsibility: To care for our children and to assure that they prosper.

The economy will recover and the tourists will come back. We all know that. Let's stop this nonsense. Scream, yell, march, whatever is necessary — we the people have this obligation to our children.

Everyone should see that the only solution, if we are going to fulfill our obligation to our children, is to add a 1 percent surtax to the excise tax with a two-year limit and then send our teachers back to do their job.

Scott Wall | Honolulu

CALLOUS MEASURES A PURSUIT OF FOLLY

I can understand why the teachers felt they had to approve the contract and suffer 17 or more furlough days — an 8 percent pay cut. Such a pay reduction will make it harder to retain and recruit good teachers. But the teachers were concerned about colleagues who faced possible layoffs. They were given a phony choice — layoffs or furlough days — a distortion the media also has spread, ignoring the fact that the state has the authority to raise revenues and/or use the rainy day and hurricane funds. Many teachers expressed concern for their students, since the furloughs will cut the number of instructional days to 161, possibly the lowest number in the U.S.

As the ship of state flounders in the turbulent waters of the current economic crisis, Lingle's solution is to throw the children overboard. Her policies not only harm teachers but also undermine the education of our children. By imposing furloughs, wage cuts, forcing layoffs, and chopping vital public services, Lingle's callous measures will only deepen and prolong the recession.

Our too silent, too passive legislators need to speak up, step up and enact revenue-enhancing legislation as soon as possible, and halt Lingle's pursuit of folly.

John Witeck | Honolulu

RAIL TRANSIT

ELEVATED SYSTEM WAS ALSO REJECTED

In Monday's (Sept. 21) Advertiser, Parsons Brinkerhoff's Mark Scheibe disparages a partially at-grade light rail system proposed by Kamehameha Schools, citing past studies by the city that rejected it as a viable alternative.

What he failed to mention in his reference to the most recent study ("Primary Corridor Transportation Project," circa 2000-2003) is that an elevated rail system was also rejected in favor of an at-grade bus rapid transit system. Parsons Brinkerhoff was also the lead consultant on that project.

In the final environmental impact statement (July 2003), it was stated "Grade separation of a transit system in the primary transportation corridor could be achieved with an elevated guideway, an underground subway, or some combination of the two. The concerns that led to the rejection of the most recently proposed elevated rapid transit system were primarily two: (1) its high cost and (2) its physical and visual impacts."

These are precisely the reasons that prompted Kamehameha Schools and the American Institute of Architects to propose a hybrid guideway system.

Richard Ubersax | Waimanalo