Public schools here fail to make progress

The recent headline "DOE buoyed by students’ slight gains" appears to be another sugar- coated article about how educators’ aims to make "sweeping educational reforms" has somehow boosted ACT scores for our students entering college (Star-Advertiser, Aug. 27).

Should Hawaii parents be happy, or crying?

I accessed the state-by-state national scores on the ACT website. Lo and behold, Hawaii is last. The Average Composite Score of reading, math, science and English ranks Hawaii at the very bottom of all 50 states.

Even if Hawaii students gained 1 percentage point in a subject, it does not make a dent in the real problem. Students are graduating ill-prepared for the rigors of college.

Is it any wonder that parents turn to private education and homeschooling to prepare their children for a future toward which the Hawaii education system is unable, year after year, to show tangible progress?

Rachel Foreman
Ewa Beach

Ige has new vision for public education

Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi is "very pleased to see steady progress" in ACT scores ("DOE buoyed by students’ slight gains," Star-Advertiser, Aug. 27).

Apparently, however, she is not concerned that those scores have improved only slightly and that Hawaii still trails the national average by a considerable margin.

Matayoshi’s attitude reflects that of the state Board of Education, which appointed her. Gov. Neil Abercrombie appointed most of the BOE members.

Ige’s few appointees are in the small minority. Ige has a new vision for public education of school empowerment, meaning that the teachers and administrators at each school would collectively decide on the school’s educational program.

The idea is that they know their students best — much better than the bureaucrats in the DOE central office who are now making most of those decisions.

As a public service, those BOE members who do not fully embrace Ige’s vision of school empowerment should resign immediately.

John Kawamoto
Kaimuki

Can any on Council vote pono on rail?

Mahalo nui loa to Princess Abigail Kawananakoa for her recent demand that the city "cease enforcing or spending money on the invalidated measures" until new votes are held by "nonconflicted Council members" ("Halt to rail sought in wake of lawmakers’ ethics issues," Star-Advertiser, Aug. 27).

The princess has the moral high ground and the financial means to correct the unjust, unethical behavior of a City Council run amok, and thank God she is using her means to do so.

Others of us with lesser means have sat helplessly on the sidelines as the city’s wholly owned Corporation Counsel Donna Leong ignores clear ethical violations and even chastises and emasculates the toothless Ethics Commission, claiming it overstepped its bounds when opining on the validity of obviously bribed voting results.

Now the real challenge: finding any non-conflicted Council members to act pono on rail.

Al Frenzel
Makaha

Abortion opponents are not like terrorists

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton spoke at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, last Thursday, telling supporters that the GOP pro-life candidates for president are like terrorists because of their stand on what she calls women’s reproductive rights.

Pro-life GOP politicians are not like terrorists. They believe abortion is killing an innocent human being and are therefore against abortion.

Are they like terrorists because they are for defunding Planned Parenthood, the leading abortion provider in the country, also complicit in selling baby parts?

Terrorists take innocent lives. If we want to play that game, wouldn’t it fit candidates like herself who believe it’s legitimate to kill babies and sell their body parts and have taxpayers support these activities?

Clinton should look at her own record before throwing stones. She is the one who needs to be under scrutiny.

Ruth Prinzivalli
Kaneohe

Breasts are natural part of our bodies

Rather than continuing to sexualize women’s bodies, maybe it’s time to understand that breasts are not just "sex objects" but a natural, normal part of our bodies that shouldn’t be shamed into being covered ("Topless sunbathing legal under state and city laws," Star-Advertiser, Kokua Line, Aug. 28).

I’ve seen male bodies that ought to be covered as well, but nobody goes up to a man and says that his beer gut and "man-boobs" ought to be encased in a T-shirt, do they?

In case anyone thinks this is being written by a hormone-powered boy, I’m a 64-year-old woman and you won’t find me topless on a beach, but I see no problem with women who are.

Michel Grotstein
Kaneohe

Ige deserves praise for stand on LNG

Congratulations to Gov. David Ige for opposing plans to increase Hawaii’s dependence on liquefied natual gas, whether as a "solution" to Hawaii’s energy challenges or as a "transition" step toward energy independence ("Ige blasts LNG as hurdle to clean energy in isles," Star-Advertiser, Aug. 25).

Kudos also to Robbie Alm, if he was instrumental in helping the governor come to this decision. On the other hand, while more information about this is better than less, I am disappointed the editors and one influential commentator of the Star-Advertiser wrote in opposition ("LNG still makes sense as ‘bridge’ fuel," Star-Advertiser, Our View, Aug. 28; "Ige’s opposition to LNG needs more explanation," Star-Advertiser, On Politics, Aug. 28).

There is plenty of information available to them that, if they were to read it, should convince them of the wisdom of the governor’s resistance.

Jim Dator
Waikiki