A number of Hawaii public schoolteachers who had been reluctantly planning to leave the profession or the state were given a reprieve. The Hawaii State Teachers Association negotiated a new contract that makes it (barely) feasible for them to hang on for a few more years (“Teachers approve 4-year contract,” Star-Advertiser, April Opens in a new tab28) Opens in a new tab.
A reprieve, not a pardon. This new contract will slow, not stop, the teacher exodus. We still have a recruitment and retention problem.
It’s going to take more than a contract that barely stays ahead of inflation to stop the bleeding and make people want to teach in Hawaii. It’s the best that can currently be funded absent an additional permanent, dedicated funding source for education, but it isn’t good enough. HSTA’s proposed constitutional amendment, recently squashed by House leadership, could establish that funding source. The war for public education rages on.
David Negaard
Wailuku
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Defense spending creates few jobs
With decisions about the federal budget looming, Hawaii’s congressional delegation should urge Congress to reduce Pentagon spending and use that money elsewhere.
As a millennial who was born and went to school here before going away to college and returning to Hawaii, myself and locals of my generation have a tough time finding a good job, sometimes just a job, in this vibrant economy. They also have difficulty moving out of their parents’ homes and living on their own without assistance.
A recent study from Brown University showed military spending is an ineffective way to create jobs, compared to spending on education, health care and clean energy. More jobs and jobs diversity help people entering the workforce to find employment and drive up wages so they may independently live on their own.
Reducing Pentagon spending and using those funds in other areas would help.
Anthony Chang
Downtown Honolulu
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Stop rail, even if it’s embarrassing
My father always said, “No throw away good money after bad.”
That’s exactly what’s happening now with the rail transit project. Promises made regarding easing traffic jams, controlling costs and building on time have been broken. Now Honolulu taxpayers are being asked to write a blank check. Former Mayor Peter Carlisle once proclaimed we could always tear the thing down.
The project has now come down to a few politicians and developers saving face, not taxpayer money. Even Mayor Kirk Caldwell admits that stopping rail would be an embarrassment to the city and state.
So what? Why must the average citizen suffer the expense for preserving reputations of the rich and powerful?
Saving a few politicians’ collective egos from embarrassment versus saving the average family (current and future generations), billions of dollars to spend on luxuries like an occasional night out, gas, food and health care? That’s a no-brainer.
Les Inouye
Manoa
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Allow electric bikes to be registered
It’s about time Honolulu recognized e-bikes as bicycles.
Currently electric bikes cannot be registered in Honolulu (Honolulu requires registration for bicycles. The fees help pay for bicycle improvements and educational programs like Hawaii Bicycling League’s BikeEd, plus help track down owners if the bike is stolen).
Under federal guidelines, a bicycle with an electric motor 750 watts and less that can go 20 mph or less is considered a bicycle.
Let these be registered as a standard bicycle and follow the same rules at bicycles. Or create a new category or amend the moped category to include electric bikes.
This would provide clarity regarding what rules and regulations e-bikes should follow, plus allowing current and new e-bikes to get registered.
Additional revenue for the city and fewer headaches for e-bike owners. Ride aloha!
Travis Counsell
Kailua
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Homeless immigrants could mean trouble
This question is posed by one of the Hawaii’s common folk who use the public bathrooms, showers and fountains in our beautiful beaches and islands.
Recently I entered the Kailua community park women’s restroom only to find a homeless man and his mattress in the women’s bathroom stall. I asked if he would leave so I could use the restroom and he politely complied.
The next day I biked to Waimanalo’s community park and three homeless women occupied the stalls. I asked if I could use the restroom and they politely agreed.
With the state’s potential sanctuary status, I wonder what would happen if, as a woman with biking shorts and legs showing, I asked an illegal Islamic immigrant to politely move.
Peggy Regentine
Kalani Iki
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Lax rules let copters rattle Pearl Harbor
I’m a volunteer tour guide on the USS Missouri. The two recent letters you published regarding excessive tour helicopter noise over Pearl Harbor historic sites are absolutely spot on.
My 35-minute tours are typically interrupted three or four times by low-flying, circling tour helicopters.
The noise is simply too loud to talk over.
The fault lies with two federal aviation agencies. First, the Honolulu Control Facility, which provides air traffic control services for Honolulu International Airport, has standard procedures that require arriving tour helicopters to fly below 1,000 feet over Pearl Harbor, and they are routinely permitted to circle near the Pearl Harbor historic sights before proceeding to the airport.
Second, the Federal Aviation Administration Flight Standards District Office’s operating procedures for tour helicopters permit flights over Pearl Harbor at 500 feet (and they will not bring an enforcement action unless the helicopter is below 300 feet).
Flights at those altitudes are more common than not.
Our visitors deserve better.
Joseph Kiefer
Kailua
