Cancel field trips to gain class time

Regarding furloughs in our public schools: Maybe I don't know what others know, as I have not seen this suggestion before, and maybe my solution is too simple.

But why can't the schools just cancel school field trips in order to create more in-class instructional time that is being lost because of the furloughs?

At my granddaughter's school, for example, there are six field trips scheduled for the current school year. It seems to me that it would be duck soup to cancel all or at least 50 percent to 70 percent of the field trips and therefore “;save”; more in-class instructional time for the kids. Six days of field trips, turned into class time instead, is a lot.

Does anyone know exactly why these field trips cannot be canceled?

Public schoolkids lack clout

I must say that my blood pressure rises just thinking about the whole educational situation here in Hawaii. I have a question: Why isn't anyone, who actually can do something, trying to stop these Furlough Fridays?

There was a lot of money raised by private groups to keep the sports programs for our schools (which I think is fantastic) but no one is even mentioning trying to raise money for education. Pretty amazing. It boils down to parents of public school children having no power and the children having even less clout.

The legislators are not speaking up for these children; that is a disgrace. I am a retired teacher and I know the children deserve better.

Quit crying about education

The parents, teachers, students and unions are grumbling about furloughs and claiming kids won't be learning anything. What about when they are off for summer vacation, spring vacation and all the holiday vacations, plus all the teacher instructional days? Isn't their education being compromised because of all these days off? Cut the shibai and get on with it.

B&Bs hurting Lanikai lifestyle

This is in response to the neighborhood board spotlight on Kailua (”;Tourist rentals frowned on,”; Oct. 25, Star-Bulletin). As a returning resident living in Lanikai for the past 10 years, I have seen this quiet residential community become a tourist destination with increasing commercial activity. Most of the 15 legal bed and breakfasts are now multi-units, as are the illegal ones. It was documented at a City Council hearing that one out of every seven residences is now an illegal vacation rental. This has caused serious strain on the infrastructure, and a traffic and parking nightmare.

In 2006, I prevailed in winning a lawsuit against my neighbor, proving she was operating an illegal multi-unit bed and breakfast in violation of the city's zoning laws. She was ordered to stop immediately, but with no enforcement this business has continued to flourish unabated.

As Kailua board chairman Chuck Prentiss noted: “;With good strong support for our existing zoning from our elected officials, we can maintain the existing character of our community.”; This is true for all of our communities outside of resort areas.