Love teachers, don’t love the labor dispute

Honk! honk!

That’s us responding to the "Honk if you love teachers" signs as grassroots rallies increase weekly in the contract stalemate between the state and public teachers union.

Frankly, honking’s the easy part. Much tougher and more complex are the sticking points between the two sides. A quick recap: After teachers rejected an offer that union leadership hastily advised to take, the governor imposed a take-it-or-leave it contract. The teachers are grudgingly taking it, but their union contested the imposition to the state Labor Board, which inexplicably has still not ruled. Along the way, there also was a contract revote that had no legal standing, as well as federal mediation that was started then dropped.

Meanwhile, talks between state and union have begun on the teachers’ 2013-15 contract to start July 1. Whew.

Regents make right move toward transparency

The University of Hawaii Board of Regents has taken an encouraging step toward a more open government. Members will receive training on the state’s open-meeting and public-record laws from the Office of Information Practices. "I think we need it," board chairman Eric Martinson said last week. He’s right.

The board was roundly criticized for handling much of the $200,000 Wonder Blunder scam behind closed doors. In the absence of open discourse, the public understandably suspected board members were up to no good. That lack of confidence, manifested in public scorn, contentious Senate hearings and a looming budget fight in the Legislature, underscores the heavy price the university has paid for its hubris.

Regent Benjamin Kudo complained that the Sunshine Law interferes with the board’s ability to "be more efficient." He’s right, too. But the first job of a public agency, spending the public’s money for the public good, is not to be efficient. It’s to serve — and to be accountable to — the public. Let’s hope the regents use their training to make their proceedings more transparent, rather than to find loopholes to do the opposite.