"I like to know the story of my son." Roberta Rodemio, On attending the trial of the man accused of killing her 18-year-old son, Robert, seven months after he emigrated from the Philippines. An eager learner who was naive about youth gangs, Robert was shot during a confrontation between rival gang members. "Anytime there's $11,000 out there, it's nice to have." Steve Scott, President of sandal-maker Scott Hawaii and a Liberty House vendor, anticipating a payment from the retailer as it begins to pay off creditors after its bankruptcy

SCRATCHING BACK

Dissecting student's letter was unfair

Your criticism of the letter written to the "Governer" by "name withheld" was nit-picking. Aside from one small common grammatical error, a few spelling errors, one unsupported statement and one muddled sentence, the letter written by a student was well done.

The thesis is clear, the organization is logical and the supporting statements are relevant. There are no gross grammar errors such as mixed tenses, fragments, run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement and others that I would consider "bad writing." The intent of the writer is clear. The public schools are not out to have all students become professional writers or journalists.

Bob Asato

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Teachers do not "produce" students, they educate them. The idea that one student's struggles with the English language somehow come to bear on ongoing negotiations between the teachers and the state is so absurd as to not merit a rebuttal.

I would like to congratulate the unnamed student for taking action on what is clearly a matter of great concern to her/him. That this young person took the time and energy to write a letter to the local paper in support of his/her position in a serious civic debate is admirable and reflects a level of community involvement lacking in most adults, let alone teen-agers.

To the extent that the writer's sense of community responsibility was fueled by his/her teachers, they too are deserving of our praise and thanks.

Ragnar Carlson

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Whereas I applaud your graciousness in sparing the high school student embarrassment, I am chagrined to see it called a "searing condemnation of the teachers..."

The statement perpetuates a flawed and incomplete line of thinking, that "if the student has failed to learn, then the teacher has failed to teach." Even when the instruction is carried out one -on-one, there is no guarantee of the outcome.

In short, there will be those who take the time and effort to ensure that their statements are as flawless as possible, and there are the careless and/or less capable ones.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the editor is willing to point out statements that are "offered without supporting facts." Indeed, such scrutiny is not only welcome, but also necessary, when emotionally and politically motivated letters come pouring in.

Samir B. Hanna

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You failed to read the letter and appreciate what it really meant. This student took a chance. He or she stood up and sent a message to our highest elected official about what he or she believes. This student exercised one of the most important rights that we have, and, frankly, made a reasonable argument.

I have worked with highly educated individuals who write no better than this student. It is sad to see such deficiencies, but it does not cause me to ignore the message in their writing or chastise them for violating grammatical rules.

Chris Benjamin
Niu Valley

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You vividly highlighted a fundamental writing problem that plagues today's students -- not just in Hawaii but elsewhere in the country. However, your lead editorial contained one serious typo in the last sentence, inconsistent punctuation style, sloppy indefinite modifiers, missing commas and two sentences starting ambiguously with "It." If I were grading, you would flunk along side the student letter writer.

Geoff Boehm
Waikiki

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True, the student made spelling and grammatical errors, but what does the editor think of novelist Lois-Ann Yamanaka's pidgin English? I'll be amazed if that student ever writes to the editor again.

Glenda Chung Hinchey

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I am appalled that you would criticize an opinion letter from a reader as grammatically incorrect with misspelled words and justify your action by omitting the letter writer's name in a juvenile effort to discredit all teachers as incompetent.

I believe many more "educated adults" would write letters but for the fear that their command of the English language would be an embarrassment if their names were published. I hope the student letter writer continues to express him or herself.

Norbert Cordeiro

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In the classrooms of Hawaii schools, teachers are constantly facing the struggle with students from foreign countries who do not understand what the teachers are telling them due to their lack of English. In addition to 20-something children, teachers must try to figure out away to get through to the non-English speaker.

There also are a handful of slow learners who make a teacher's task even more challenging.

Furthermore, some textbooks are nearly 20 years old (both spelling and language arts). So it does not surprise me to see any child at any level struggling to learn or having a hard time with spelling and English.

The letter from a high school student showed the student was brave enough to state his or her opinion, regardless of his or her English ability, which is equally important to language. That's proof that teachers are getting through to students.

Spencer Harris
Japanese teacher
Ala Wai Elementary School

Editor had a point

I agree with your editorial. However you did not dig deep enough to find the cause of the problem. First we have federal courts and Congress micromanaging schools from their lofty seats. The problem with this is that extremely few of them have ever taught a class of elementary school students.

Next we have a Board of Education that tells teachers it takes 40 reams of paper to flunk a student. That student is allowed to disrupt class and make it nearly impossible for fellow students to learn.

Then we have local politicians who cut the education budget before they touch any other budget. The outcome of all this is classrooms with from 25 to 30 students of all learning abilities and learning speeds. One teacher can't do them all justice. The result of this is that our kids get shafted, and we blame teachers for things they can not control.

Charles A Phelps
Waianae

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How refreshing to see an editor with the courage to challenge some of the local urban legends concerning our public school teachers.

The teachers are clearly spending more time filling the heads of their students with drivel concerning their right to more money than teaching them how to spell and write.

John Reid

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