Isle teachers deserve to get higher salaries

Another article filled with excuses for Hawaii’s poor education system.

Robert Campbell, state Department of Education executive assistant for strategic reform, mentions a "fantasy world" of impossible expectations, but quite frankly, many school districts across our nation have met the requirements of No Child Left Behind ("More new isle teachers are licensed," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 29). So, what about Hawaii?

Hawaii’s cost of living may be one of many deterrents for teacher recruitment, but the article overlooks the fact that Hawaii is at the bottom as far as teachers pay goes.

I guess you get what you pay for, and for the kids of Hawaii, they’re not getting much. They deserve better.

It’s time that the state realizes that it needs to pay up for teaching talent.

Dogs should be treated like dogs in eateries

I was sitting outside next to a grocery store and a couple was treating its dog as if it were a child, belly carrier and all.

The dog was eating off of the table that patrons use; these tables do not get wiped down.

Then I was in another store and a woman walks in with a dog in a belly carrier like a child.

Is society that co-dependent and in need of power and control to have a dog and treat it like a child?

I am a dog person, but my dog would never eat off a table in my home or in a public place, especially where other people would be eating.

Please have a little more class.

Landfill operator should pay for cleanup

Regarding the medical waste that has been showing up on our beaches, I have two questions:

First, why are we not burning the medical waste?

Second, why doesn’t the state have the company managing the Waimanalo dump pay to have a company clean up the beaches?

I am sick of all the excuses. We don’t have enough employees to clean the beaches, we don’t have money. If it were Mr. Public that caused this to happen, you can bet the farm that he would have some serious fines levied on him by now.

Too many drivers intimidate pedestrians

On Jan. 19, at approximately 6:10 p.m., a University of Hawaii student was threatened with a deadly weapon while using the crosswalk on University Avenue between Dole and Metcalf. The assailant’s weapon of choice: a light-colored Jeep Cherokee.

The perpetrator, apparently enraged by having to slow her vehicle to allow a pedestrian to cross the busy road in a legal way, aggressively used her horn and yelled with indiscriminate belligerency to harass the victim. Unfortunately, the perpetrator fled the scene and is still at large. The victim, shaken by the preceding events, is presently recovering at a local residence.

This scene is an accurate rendition of a crime which occurs regularly in the city of Honolulu. Innocent pedestrians are frequently harassed by malignant drivers demonstrating no consideration for the law or pedestrian rights-of-way in crosswalks.

We are essentially all people trying to share the limited space of this island; if both drivers and pedestrians demonstrate mutual respect, Oahu will be a safer, more pleasant place to reside.

Majority rule thwarted by Senate filibusters

Minority control is not in the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall and 24 of his colleagues have proposed a strong package to change the Senate rules to end filibusters on motions to begin debate. It would force senators waging a filibuster to actually stay on the floor and engage in debate. This would protect the right of the minority to be heard, but also allow the Senate to conduct its business without endless, senseless delays.

The Senate should approve this package when it reconvenes next week.

I want to see the filibuster rules fixed so that our senators can do their jobs — debate and vote on bills.