Building in Kakaako hurt governor, too

Gov. Neil Abercrombie made a good point when he said religious conservatives caused his defeat because they voted en masse against him for supporting gay marriage. But that is just one reason.

The way he allowed Kakaako to be developed does not sit well with the populace. Kakaako should be developed to create housing for Oahu’s working community. Not just for those at 140 percent of the median income, but also those below the median income. People feel powerless and ignored when their leaders are in the back pockets of developers.

The future does not look bright for us workers when plans are made to accommodate the rich while we who toil every day and drive endlessly on H-1 in the hot sun are just forgotten.

Dedicate Kakaako to young, local working families and put schools, markets and parks there. Builders can still make money on this.

Emry Peters
Kaimuki

School in Haleiwa deserved award

Congratulations to Haleiwa Elementary School on its 2014 National Blue Ribbon award.

A small rural school has the right combination of excellent leaders, teachers, staff, parents and most of all, determined students. In light of all the obstacles that schools face today, Haleiwa Elementary School has the right formula to achieve excellence.

More amazingly, this school faced closure a few years ago by the state Department of Education and Board of Education. What a shame it would have been.

Marilee Y. Lyons
Haleiwa

Teachers should run our schools

It is encouraging to read the Star-Advertiser’s endorsement of the group formed by retired principals that seeks to decentralize the DOE ("Welcome effort to decentralize DOE," Star-Advertiser, Our View, Oct. 2).

Teachers, however, are waiting to learn more.

Will a true effort be made to empower teachers from the bottom up, or will the current top-down approach, in which the administrative good old boys call most of the shots, simply move from the level of the district to that of the school, thus re-enforcing rather than challenging the parochialism that for decades has been characteristic of this single-state school district?

As a teacher of 20 years, I believe that the only road to true school reform in Hawaii and elsewhere is to switch to a "teacher-administered" school culture, in which all teachers receive administrative training beyond their 10th year in the classroom and all administrators are required to teach at least one class.

Andy Jones
Language arts teacher McCully

Classrooms could be cooled down

As a teacher in the state Department of Education, daily sweltering classroom temperatures, often topping 90-plus degrees, have become routine.

We attempt to deliver meaningful, rigorous instruction in humid, sweltering conditions that rival Southeast Asia.

I would like to offer two solutions to this perennial problem:

» Move the school year start date back to September.

Yes, there’s still hot weather, but less of it.

» School rooftops could provide enormous area to collect solar energy.

This could relieve millions in electric bills, provide the energy for air conditioning, and schools could sell surplus electricity back to the grid.

Daniel McLaughlin
Kahala

Award for Sakai must be a prank

I thought it was April Fool’s Day when I read that Ted Sakai had won an award that named him the nation’s Outstanding Director of Corrections ("Sakai wins award, announces health program for guards," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 1).

The same man, under his watch, had inmates escape while being transported, inmates failing to return after work furloughs, almost weekly prison visitor cancellations and high volume of sick call-ins from prison personnel.

If he is the best out of 50 states, I shudder to think how the other 49 states are running their prisons. Why hasn’t he been fired or why isn’t anyone calling for his resignation?

Sharon Yamamoto
Makiki

Canceled visitations must be addressed

Day after day after day I see that the visiting hours at our correctional facilities are canceled.

Hello! Is anybody doing anything about this?

Nancy Takara
Kailua

Natatorium’s future is political issue

During this week’s gubernatorial debate on KITV, candidate Mufi Hannemann, when asked which plans of the current administration he supports, mentioned the new city/state Natatorium beach plan that is currently in the environmental impact statement phase.

During his second term as mayor, Hannemann created a stakeholders’ task force to study this long-suffering issue. The task force voted in favor of a new beach framed by the memorial arches over a demolished and rebuilt stadium and swimming pool.

The new beach plan would save taxpayers many tens of millions of dollars. Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Gov. Neil Abercrombie both support the much-needed and economical beach plan.

The final project will require the signature of the new governor, so it is imperative that we know where the candidates stand on the issue. Hopefully the subject will be discussed in future debates and all candidates can state their intentions.

Rick Bernstein
Kaimana Beach Coalition Diamond Head