Brainstorm! Challenge

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Keeping good teachers is key to reform

Education reform will mean nothing if we do not have qualified and dedicated teachers in our schools. As a public school librarian, I see the positive effect made daily by our many excellent teachers; however, I also see positions filled by long-term substitutes, veteran teachers who are retiring and new teachers who are considering leaving the profession.

At my school, we have enthusiastic, qualified young teachers who are on the verge of leaving because of the low salaries. Some have taken substantial salary cuts to return to Hawaii from the mainland, but now realize they cannot afford to live here. We cannot afford to lose these teachers if we want to continue to improve our schools.

My daughter is working on her master's degree in education at the University of California-Berkeley. California offers both resident and nonresident teachers loan forgiveness for teaching in underperforming schools. An incentive like this, in addition to a fair salary increase, would help to alleviate the teacher shortage in Hawaii.

Betsy Bremer
Mililani

Reform must come from outside system

In criticizing the proposal to have Hawaii's citizens decide the issue of single vs. multiple school boards, Ron Rhetrik invokes a University of Hawaii football analogy (Letters, April 8). His central argument is that just as it would be inappropriate to ask Junes Jones (football expert) to seek public input on game strategies, it is inappropriate to ask DOE personnel (education experts) to seek public input on retooling the state's educational infrastructure.

This analogy is inept. If Jones were to produce a string of poor performances, it is unlikely that he would remain at the helm and be entrusted with rehabilitating the program. But that is precisely what the "let the professionals fix the system" xenophobes are advocating for schools. Human Nature 101 teaches us that many "experts" who become entrenched in a fossilized bureaucracy are prone to morph into status-quo-preserving bureaucrats first and altruistic professionals second.

One definition of insanity is "to keep doing the same things while expecting different results." Why not create a referendum and let all parties try to convince the public of their proposals' merits? Unless, of course, Hawaii is satisfied with a von Appen-level education system.

David Kammerer
Laie

Blame the terrorists, not the president

In response to Eduardo Hernandez's April 11 letter concerning the deaths of American contract workers in Iraq and the mutilation of their corpses, I have to disagree. Although there are multiple reasons for these deaths, it all comes down to one source -- the terrorists.

The White House has much more information than the public. It would be silly for government officials to release everything they knew; if they did, it would certainly get into the wrong hands and could be used against us. So no one knows the "real" reason why we went to war with Iraq.

It disgusts me that some people always blame the president when something goes wrong, while the actual criminals get no mention. As Donald J. Trump said on "The Apprentice," "I don't like excuses!" Plain and simple, it is the terrorists who made the decision to kill Americans. Place the blame where it belongs.

Justin L. Tanoue
Kaneohe

Bush should've acted on memo's warning

In your editorial "Rice absolution of White House too absolute" (April 11), you note that "Bush was handed a memo written by (former counterterrorism czar Richard) Clarke entitled, 'Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.'"

This memo explicitly told Bush that the FBI had detected "patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings."

Why, at the very least, didn't Bush alert the secretary of transportation and the head of the Federal Aviation Administration? Why didn't he call for a meeting about terrorism with his cabinet?

It is precisely because, as you noted, "Bush has acknowledged that he "was not on point" regarding the threat of Osama bin Laden before the attack and "didn't feel that sense of urgency."

This is exactly what Clarke said, which resulted in an all-out assault on him by the Bush administration and its media apologists. Rice's attempt to deflect any blame for 9/11 from Bush is par for the course with this bunch.

But then these are the same people who misled us into a war in Iraq over nonexistent WMDs -- and labeled anyone who opposed them unpatriotic.

Terrance C. Horton
Kapolei

Mufi knows state issues are city's, too

Patrick Stanley's April 11 letter indicates that he has not paid attention to the details of Mufi Hannemann's platform. He criticizes Mufi's pledge to try to bring a pre-season NFL game to Oahu. Mufi did not propose expending city monies to do this, he simply said he would use his contacts to encourage the NFL to consider it. The Pro Bowl is estimated to infuse $28 million into the local economy, and you can bet some of that finds its way into city coffers. And yes, Mufi does believe the city ought to be more active in growing the economy.

When it comes to improving education, Mufi wants to make city facilities that are already open (gyms, parks, pools) available to public schools. He has proposed that the city take the lead in forming an intermediate school-level sports league. Studies consistently show the benefits of keiki participating in team sports.

Finally, Stanley questions the idea of the city helping the University of Hawaii create its "college town." Mufi simply wants the state to continue to do what it already does (landscaping and taking care of city roads) within UH President Evan Dobelle's blueprint for the Mcully and Moiliili areas.

Judith Melvin
Kailua

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[ BRAINSTORM! ] Hawaii is popularly known as "The Aloha State." What might be a better slogan? To get started, think about what you might see around the islands -- rainbows, waves, sand, traffic jams, homeless orangutans ... Send your ideas by April 21 to: brainstorm@starbulletin.com Or by mail: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson Star-Bulletin 500 Ala Moana 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Or by fax: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson 529-4750