Editorials
Friday, March 16, 2001

Strike is symptom
of education ills

The issue: Public school teachers and
the University of Hawaii faculty are
threatening to strike, with wages
the main topic of dispute.

Twin strikes by the public school teachers and the faculty of the University of Hawaii would deepen the pit into which the state's educational system has fallen. Everyone involved - governor, Legislature, teachers, and professors - should take a deep breath and step back from the brink.

If the schools and the university are struck, the walkouts would further erode an already crumbling educational program. It should go without saying that an undereducated population cannot make informed decisions about the public agenda nor create a strong economic base, not to say lead satisfying lives.

Beyond the damage to education, a strike by public school teachers would send parents scurrying to find someone to care for their children, paying out money that most can ill afford, or would force them to take time off from their jobs, or would hamper their businesses. Seniors set to graduate would find their college plans and scholarships in jeopardy.

Similarly, a strike by the university's faculty could prevent those about to graduate from taking the jobs they've lined up or adversely affect their chances for getting one. The educators would lose wages that would take them months, if not years to make up and no paychecks would mean fewer dollars spent, tripping our already wobbly economy.

Gov. Cayetano, in a meeting with Star-Bulletin reporters and editors yesterday, said strikes would crush and demoralize not only teachers but the whole community.

These are problems for the short term. The overwhelming problem is that Hawaii's educational program doesn't educate children as well as it should, even in the best of times. For decades, we've patchworked public education. From crumbling buildings and crowded classrooms to dangerous playground equipment, from outdated textbooks to antiquated computers, the problems with our educational system have multiplied. The response has been to plug leaks while others spring up next to them.

It doesn't have to be that way. Educating children costs money. Clean classrooms, teaching tools, equipment and good teachers cost money. The people of Hawaii need to commit themselves and their money to learning. We need to set aside personal gain for the present to work for the greater good in the future.

Maybe teachers and other public employees could accept a little less for now. Maybe taxpayers could contribute a little more. Legislators could power down political egos. For the governor, a more lasting legacy than an aquarium would be an educational system unsurpassed in the United States.

What's needed is leadership to break apart the elements of the problem and to look for solutions together. If we continue to squabble and point fingers, we can look forward to more strikes, inadequate textbooks, broken tools and crummy buildings. We can expect kids who graduate from high school not knowing how to read, who can find only jobs making beds in hotels, flipping burgers, or mowing a golf course. We can watch as our college graduates struggle to compete.

Things don't have to be they way they are. We do not have to settle for less.

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Two tacks for Fed,
Hawaii tax cuts

The issue: Tax cuts are being
debated in the state Legislature
and in the Congress

The state Legislature is wrong in seeking to overturn a cut in taxes promised to the voters and taxpayers in 1998. The Senate has passed the measure, but it is expected to die in the House. If perchance the House does the unexpected, Gov. Cayetano has said he would veto the bill, which he should.

In Washington, the Senate should approve President Bush's tax plan but only after substantial changes in the version passed by the House. The greatest relief should go to the middle class, those whose income runs between $25,000 and $75,000, and to lower-income people who deserve relief as a matter of equity.

Prudence also suggests that the federal tax cut proposal be trimmed a bit. The president has contended that a $5.6 billion surplus during the next10 years could cover expenditures of $2.6 billion for Social Security, $1.4 billion to pay down the national debt and $1.6 billion in tax relief. That's cutting it too close.

Tax cuts in Hawaii and a reasonable tax bill in Washington make good sense economically and politically. The national economy is in trouble, as witness the gyrations in the stock market this week. As the economy of California tumbles, potential tourists will stay home. Add the continuing economic doldrums in Japan, another large source of tourists, and it doesn't take a Ph.D. in economics to see trouble coming.

The promised tax cut in Hawaii would have an immediate effect but that from Washington would not kick in until next year. Having the national cut made retroactive to Jan. 1 or to take effect as soon as the president signs the bill would put money into people's pockets and help revive the economy.

Politically, repealing the tax cut here would break faith with voters. The fate of the elder President Bush should spring to the minds of Hawaii's politicians. He pledged "no new taxes," but in 1991 went back on his word and was defeated in the 1992 election.

Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka should advocate revisions in the president's tax plan and then vote for a tax reduction.

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Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.

Don Kendall, President

John Flanagan, publisher and editor in chief 529-4748; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4747; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4751; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4751; lyoungoda@starbulletin.com
Richard Halloran, editorial director 529-4790; rhalloran@starbulletin.com
Ed Lynch, city editor 529-4758; elynch@starbulletin.com
Nadine Kam, features editor 529-4759; nkam@starbulletin.com
Stephanie Kendrick, business editor 529-4757; skendrick@starbulletin.com
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Dean Sensui, photo editor 529-4791; dsensui@starbulletin.com
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