Fewer teachers leaving, and way fewer fired

The pace, scope and type of changes in Hawaii’s public school system have sparked worries of burnout in some quarters. So it’s interesting to note that teacher turnover in the Department of Education is the lowest it’s been in the past five years, according to preliminary DOE statistics.

Moreover, of the 876 teachers who won’t be back, only 16 were terminated — a plunge from the 205 who were let go in 2009-10 (when a total of 1,060 teachers left the public school system due to resignation, retirement or termination). Retirements seem stable: 338 teachers retired in 2009-10 and 326 did so after this past school year.

Food sustainability great, but not in my backyard?

Hawaii Dairy Farms is facing some serious headwinds with its enterprise planned near Poipu. There’s the lawsuit from neighboring resorts who worry about smelly cows and dusty farm vehicles.

This has to be disheartening to the farm and its backer, Ulupono Initiative, which plan at full operation to have about 2,000 cows.

If this is the community pushback other farms can expect, one has to wonder if other goals to produce more of Hawaii’s food will be possible.