Editorials
Wednesday, April 25, 2001
Hawaii can heave another sigh of relief as the public school teachers, like the University of Hawaii faculty a week ago, have agreed to a new contract. Before complacency sets in, however, it should be recorded that nobody won in these labor disputes and a long, difficult process of rebuilding should begin now. Entire education system
needs careful scrutinyThe issue: Public school teachers
have settled the strike, and, barring
a last-minute hitch, are ready to
go back to their classrooms.The big losers were the students, of course. Some of the class work they lost can be made up but some is gone forever. Their parents are a close second. The teachers lost in several ways; they must ask themselves how long it will take to make up the wages they lost while walking the picket lines or how much they would have been ahead if they had settled for less but sooner.
More important may be the bad blood that developed between the teachers and the governor they reviled, the bad blood between the teachers on the picket line and those who choose not to honor it, and the bad blood between the teachers and the public. If the letters to the editor of this newspaper reflected public attitudes, a distinct shift toward criticism of the teachers and their tactics could be felt as the strike wore on.
Governor Cayetano, despite putting on the best face he could, was less than a forthcoming communicator in trying to persuade the public that his stance was proper. Moreover, he said yesterday, the government would be able to absorb the cost of the settlement by streamlining and making cuts in other programs.
The governor also said, "I am confident we will be able to meet the challenge without taking money from the taxpayers by raising taxes or repealing past tax cuts." Skeptics may be excused for raising querulous eyebrows.
The Democratic Party lost as the splits widened between the governor and Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, who appeared at picket lines while the governor was negotiating with the strikers. Similarly, the Democratic-controlled Legislature undercut the governor's bargaining position in voting funds for pay raises before the governor reached an agreement with the union.
And the state lost as television flashed pictures of the twin strikes across the nation to enhance the image of Hawaii as a frivolous place where little of consequence takes place. Some people here may be tempted to brush that off as negligible but would only be hiding their heads in the sand.
The end of the two strikes should be seen as a beginning, not as a conclusion. This public educational system, from kindergarten to doctorate programs, should be scrutinized, then scrubbed to revitalize an ingredient of excruciating import to the future of Hawaii.
AS English increasingly becomes the global language, the dispute continues about whether the United States should make English its official language or, to the contrary, require governments to communicate in other languages. The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a person's right to sue a state government because of its refusal to communicate in foreign tongues. Unfortunately, that will not end this useless debate. Passing English-only
laws is not necessaryThe issue: The U.S. Supreme Court
has thrown out a lawsuit challenging
Alabama's English-only exam
for a driver's license.In 1991, the state of Alabama, which had administered driver's license examinations in at least 14 foreign languages for years, began using only the English version in accordance with a state constitutional amendment making English the official language of Alabama. Martha Sandoval, a house cleaner in Mobile, filed a class-action lawsuit against the state for allegedly violating the 1964 Civil Rights Act by discriminating on the basis of national origin.
In striking down the Sandoval suit, the Supreme Court did not directly address laws enacted by 25 states making English the official language. (Hawaii administers driver's license tests in English and Tagalog.) Instead, the high court ruled that although states may not intentionally discriminate in federally funded programs, ethnically "disparate" effects are allowed.
This ruling is hardly going to end the controversy. Critics of English-only laws will continue to brand them as anti-immigrant and racist. Proponents will insist that such laws improve efficiency and promote the learning of English.
Government actions aimed at strengthening services to non-English speakers -- including an executive order by President Clinton last August requiring agencies to provide services in virtually any language -- may lead some new Americans to think that they can get by without learning English. That has never been true and never will. Most immigrant families know it.
Studies have shown that immigrants want to learn English. For those who don't learn it, their children do and their grandchildren speak only English. That will continue in the absence of any law making English the official language. "Why do we need a law to tell us what we already know?" asks Elizabeth Salett, president of the National MultiCultural Institute, which promotes diversity. "It would be a response to a crisis that doesn't exist."
Learning English is required to achieve prosperity in the United States -- and, increasingly, the world. Most immigrant Americans don't need English-only laws to grasp that reality.
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 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.com The Honolulu Star-Bulletin (USPS 249460) is published daily by
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