Was Bergdahl trade worth the cost?

I am glad Bowe Bergdahl is home, but at what cost?

The Obama administration said it was a prisoner exchange and no law was violated. But prisoner exchanges are supposed to be equal.There is nothing equal in a swap that exchanged a lowly enlisted soldier for five high-value terrorists who will soon be back in the fight against the infidel.

Every American citizen just had a huge target hung on his or her back as terrorists now know that President Barack Obama will negotiate and the price for an American is high.

The Obama administration will have the guilt of the next major terrorist attack against American on its hands.

James Roller
Mililani

Pre-K spending a waste of money

I’m writing to praise our Legislature for denying funding for preschool education even if the denial was due to lack of funds.

Thus far, votershave only heard messages hyping the program as "Investing in the future," an empty phrase meaning, "We want to use public funds on a program for which we can’t measure success."The total cost of pre-K education is $125 million annually, and this is not chump change.

At present, the best measure of a child’s success is parental involvement, which is not measurable as the critical dataare the amount of time parents spendwith children and how that time is spent.

Hawaii families in the target group operate based on economic realities. Too many families spend too little time with their children and see pre-K education as a way to lessen parental responsibilities.

As a psychologist, my opinions are based on nearly 40 years working here, and I urge voters to vote no on the amendment to fund private pre-K education using public funds.

Gary D. Beck
Kakaako

DOE doesn’t listen to those in schools

I want to thank schools superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi for giving a perfect example of the Board of Education’s and the Department of Education’s willful ignorance, which teachers and principals have been criticizing.

First, it was individual teachers and principals grumbling about the burdensome mandates that come with the new teacher evaluation system.

Then, a survey of teachers from the DOE and Hawaii State Teachers Association revealed that those concerns were shared by a majority of teachers statewide.

And now, a survey of principals reveals that a majority of them feel the same way.

And how does our superintendent respond? By burying her head in the sand and repeating the same meaningless talking points we’ve all heard before. I hope our governor and his appointed school board are taking careful notes, because the people who do the day-to-day work of educating our keiki are clearly fed up, and the superintendent obviously either doesn’t hear their voices or doesn’t want to hear them.

Mike Landes
Kihei

Shinseki served honorably and well

I am sad to hear that retired Gen. Eric Shinseki resigned his assignment as Secretary of Veterans Affairs.I understand that as the agency’s leader, Shinseki was ultimately responsible, but some of the blame has to go to a VA system that has not adequately served our veterans for many years.

Before pointing fingers we need to fix the systemic issues that make the VA hospital inefficient and a detriment to our veterans.

It is important that we not just focus on the latest issues but recognize Shinseki’s lifelong and positive contributions.His loyalty to our veterans and dependents have been outstanding. He has served our country as a military leader and he continues to be an advocate for all who served with him. Let’s recognize and thank him for being a good soldier and a good man.

Lehuanui McColgan
Kaimuki

We can line up for Arizona Memorial

Is it really possible that Paul DePrey, as superintendent of the USS Arizona Memorial, did not realize that selling free tickets was illegal, not to mention against National Park Service policy ("Selling free tickets ‘a mistake,’ park official concedes," Star-Advertiser, June 2)?

And just who was receiving the benefits of that windfall?

There appears to be a bit — or a lot — of finagling. Tour groups were given first preference. So what about tourists who drove or took TheBus from Waikiki, and locals wanting to pay their respects? How many were turned away?

Why not revert the policy back to the long-standing procedure of everyone getting on line, tour group visitors as well as individuals? Forget about online registration. Look how that turned out at Ala Wai Golf Course.

Joan Huber
Diamond Head