Disabled students get raw deal at DOE

The state Department of Education says it needs more information from private schools "to help us better improve the child’s program and course of study."("Private schools out public funds," Star-Advertiser, Aug. 13).

What is missing from that comment is the fact that disabled students are placed in private schools because the DOE denied them a free, appropriate public education, just as it did before the Felix Consent Decree was signedalmost 20 years ago.

The Supreme Court addressed this situation in 1993: "Public educational authorities who want to avoid reimbursing parents for the private education of a disabled child can do one of two things: Give the child a free appropriate public education in a public setting, or place the child in an appropriate private setting of the State’s choice."

Instead, the DOE violates contracts, court orders and federal law and chooses to litigate instead of educating severely disabled children.

John P. Dellera
Kahala

It’s a myth that cats kill birds en masse

Mark Nakashima cites information published by American Bird Conservancy as if factual ("Don’t rely on cats to solve rat problem," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Aug. 2).

However, the conservancy uses misleading and inflated claims of bird mortality from cat predation based on inappropriate and speculative extrapolation of a small study in Great Britain and applied to the whole of the United States. An excellent resource that dispels misinformation is voxfelina.org.

The demise of Hawaii’s native birds is due to habitat destruction, avian malaria, competition for food sources by non-indigenous species of birds and predation on chicks and eggs by rats and mongoose.

Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) is the most effective and humane cat population management strategy. At no expense to taxpayers, TNR is employed by volunteers using their own money and time to reduce the cat population and help the community.

Christin Matsushige
Saint Louis Heights

Banish folks from Hawaii for beliefs?

In response to Michael Wilson-South’s desire to send homophobic or racist CEOs "back where they came from," I wonder why he assumes these CEOs aren’t from Hawaii ("Chick-fil-A’s CEO deserves picketing," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Aug. 7).

Our island paradise has no shortage of homegrown bigotries and intolerances, but I am curious who else should be expelled from Hawaii because of his or her beliefs? Is there a questionnaire I can fill out to confirm my beliefs that would allow me to escape this mass expulsion Wilson-South is calling for?

Kris Schwengel
Hawaii Kai

Big money explains Tulsi Gabbard’s win

We learned an important lesson from Saturday’s vote: If you have enough money, you may be able to buy any election.

This is the most parsimonious explanation for how an inexperienced neophyte like Tulsi Gabbard can defeat a qualified, capable politician like Mufi Hannemann.All she had was strong backing from some big, old-time political chiefs who had access to huge amounts of money. This was enough to buy overwhelming media exposure.

It is another case of "Citizens United" hurting our democracy.

Rian McMullin
Kaneohe

HECO makes profit no matter what

The primary reason for Hawaiian Electric Co.’s high electric rates is the cost of low-sulphur fuel.

When you pay more than $130 for each barrel of the most expensive fuel oil, like HECO does, you end up producing electricity at extremely high prices, currently 34 cents per KWH compared to 10-14 cents per KWH in other places on the mainland.

HECO told me it must comply with the Clean Air Act, and burning low sulfur fuel in its power plants was the only way of achieving this.

HECO is a regulated public utility. However, the cost of fuel is not regulated and HECO can pass that cost down to every consumer. So HECO could pay $300 a barrel for fuel and pass it down to your electric bill without affecting its profit. Not a bad deal for HECO, but not so good for Hawaii consumers.

Out of all the good people at HECO, you mean to tell me that no one has any ideas that can lead to lower fuel prices?

Robert Reed
Kahala

Allure of turtles clogs North Shore

First it was just during surf contests. Then, during the winter surf season. Then, during long weekends and holidays in the summertime. Now, it’s nonstop and never ending.

Welcome to the North Shore traffic nightmare.

The cause of this traffic is not the turtles at Laniakea Beach but rather the hordes of tour buses, tour vans and tourists that flock here daily to erode the beach, trample the coral and sometimes harass the turtles.

It’s hard to blame the tourists, because they don’t seem to understand what a problem they are causing. The problem lies in the people and businesses promoting the "Turtle Beach" and government officials who haven’t done anything to stop it.

There are many possible temporary solutions, such as adding a gravel shoulder lane, creating a walking overpass, directing people to walk under the bridge, stopping illegal van and bus parking, or changing the venue to a place with beach access and parking. There are turtles everywhere in Hawaii. Help!

Sara K Ackerman
Haleiwa