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Editorials






OUR OPINION


Older students need more
help to improve

THE ISSUE

Results of the Hawaii State Assessment show younger students are making gains.

IMPROVED test scores for younger public schools students underscore how standards-based systems can focus efforts in education. Though results of the Hawaii State Assessment released last week are encouraging, they show that older children will need more help if they are to make similar gains.

The test, which gauges student performance as required by the federal No Child Left Behind law, ranks 52 percent of students in grade 3 and 56 percent of those in grade 5 as proficient in reading, up from 47 percent and 50 percent respectively from 2004.

In grades 8 and 10, however, reading scores fell from 39 to 38 percent and from 43 to 42 percent. While the drops aren't significant, schools must meet increasing proficiency levels -- pegged this year at 44 percent in reading and 28 percent in math -- to avoid federal sanctions. But more importantly, they indicate deeper changes are essential if public schools are to send students into the adult world prepared for higher education or employment.

Public schools have placed considerable effort at the elementary stages, giving younger children a head start in the standards-based curriculum correlated to the tests, an advantage older students haven't had. Moreover, as children grow older, disciplinary and adolescence issues add to the mix of problems.

Meanwhile, achievement in math continues to lag. Only grade 3 students at 29 percent passed the proficiency mark with grade 5 at 26 percent, grade 8 at 21, and grade 10 at 20 percent.

Some parents and others have complained that Hawaii's math test is too difficult. Unlike other tests with multiple-choice answers, the state exam requires students to calculate correctly and explain how and why they came up with solutions.

The Department of Education acknowledges that the test sets a high bar and is considering changes, but the department should maintain good measures of ability.


BACK TO TOP
|

Worker shortage
should hike wages

THE ISSUE

Hawaii's average wage ranks 19th in the nation although being slightly less than the national average of $37,020.

HAWAII has long been recognized as one of the most expensive places to live, where a lower-paid person has to work at more than one job to make ends meet. The state's booming tourism and construction industries are resulting in a worker shortage that can only bring good news to the lower rungs of job seekers.

Latest figures from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics show Hawaii's average wage is $36,300, slightly below the national average, but that is misleading. Hawaii has a disproportionate number of lower-paying service jobs such as waiters, bartenders, bellhops and laundry attendants.

While the $30,410 those jobs pay is much higher than similar jobs on the mainland, the number of such jobs brings down Hawaii's overall average wage. Conversely, residents with top-paying positions fare well with their mainland counterparts, but their scarcity contributes little to the state's overall average.

The relatively high salaries paid to non-management personnel in the tourism industry can be attributed over the years to organized labor -- not only in union-shop hotels and restaurants but in unorganized workplaces that must compete for employees. That should hold true even more as the worker shortage becomes more severe.

At professional levels, Hawaii's wages are fairly high, partly because employers must compete for talent on a nationwide basis. For example, engineers' salaries in Hawaii average $110,180, fifth-highest in the nation. Any attraction to Hawaii's climate is often offset by the high price of housing.

For all those reasons, Hawaii's wages, which rose by 3.4 percent from 2002 to 2004, are likely to grow at a more rapid clip, and the cost of living undoubtedly will rise at the same pace. The demand for skilled labor should provide incentives for people to obtain education to seek high-paying jobs that are bound to become more plentiful.






Oahu Publications, Inc. publishes
the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, MidWeek
and military newspapers

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

David Black, Dan Case, Dennis Francis,
Larry Johnson, Duane Kurisu, Warren Luke,
Colbert Matsumoto, Jeffrey Watanabe, Michael Wo


HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN
Dennis Francis, Publisher Lucy Young-Oda, Assistant Editor
(808) 529-4762
lyoungoda@starbulletin.com
Frank Bridgewater, Editor
(808) 529-4791
fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, Assistant Editor
(808) 529-4768
mrovner@starbulletin.com

Mary Poole, Editorial Page Editor
(808) 529-4748; mpoole@starbulletin.com

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin (USPS 249460) is published daily by
Oahu Publications at 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813.
Periodicals postage paid at Honolulu, Hawaii. Postmaster: Send address changes to
Star-Bulletin, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802.



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