TURNOVER

RURAL SCHOOL TEACHERS NEED COMPENSATION

After teaching in town at Dole Middle School for 19 years, I have returned to Nanakuli to teach intermediate band. As in most rural schools, young/new teachers transfer once they receive tenure. The turnover rate is 25 percent per year.

Since I live in town, the commute is 60 miles, roundtrip. Last year I spent $2,000-plus in gas; this year more due to the ridiculous gas prices. Now, tenured teachers have another reason to transfer to schools closer to home. Hard-to-fill vacancies such as at Moloka'i High & Intermediate pay teachers an additional $3,000 per year.

Perhaps the DOE should consider that option for all rural schools, Nanakuli, Wai'anae, Kahuku and Waialua included.

I love the administration, teachers, students, parents and community of Nanakuli, and they deserve good, seasoned teachers just as much as town schools.

MAINLAND

HOW DO CHANGES IN GAS BLENDS AFFECT US?

Although I think the gas cap is junk like many others, I accept the fact that I need to drive a lot so I'm going to pay for the gas anyway. But what I have not seen addressed is how the different seasonal blends of gas on the Mainland affect our price here?

The blends are changed depending on the market or season (winter, summer, etc.), and nothing has been said about their effect on the cap, if any.

RAIL NEEDED

PEARL HARBOR TUNNEL IDEA WON'T EASE TRAFFIC

There has been discussion recently about building a tunnel under the mouth of Pearl Harbor or bridging that body of water to reduce the distance for commuters from the 'Ewa plain to downtown. While these proposals are worth considering to help commuters not going all the way into town, they should not be viewed as a replacement for a rail-based integrated transportation system.

Like the HOT lane concept, they both suffer from a critical practical flaw. If they are built, they will allow more cars to arrive in the downtown area all at once. Once all these cars get downtown, they will have no place to go because there is no way to expand the downtown street grid. There is no way to widen Bishop Street or to double-deck Alakea. Consequently, while the commute from 'Ewa Beach to Salt Lake may be faster, the last two miles will take twice as long, as drivers jostle with other commuters getting off the H-1 or a HOT lane.

Trains and ferries are the only two modes of transportation that can avoid traffic altogether — ferries because our waterways are underutilized, and trains because they can be either elevated or put underground. If a train is not grade separated, it too will get caught in traffic and will essentially become a more comfortable bus.

Bridging Pearl Harbor or tunneling under it will not provide an alternative to being stuck in traffic. Traffic jams will be moved to different locations, but still will not allow the majority of 'Ewa and Central O'ahu commuters to avoid traffic altogether as rail and ferries can. There is no cheap fix to our congestion problem, and commuters should not be fooled into thinking there might be.

CURBSIDE

RECYCLING DECISION MEANS MORE WASTE

I am a Mililani resident and know firsthand the benefits of curbside recycling. It works! I recycled a great portion of my waste instead of it going to diminish the size of our already-strained landfills.

Now, since the recycling service has halted, I do not recycle as much. I throw all my green waste into the rubbish. Also, I don't have the time and I balk at paying the gas going to two separate locations for different recycling. Also, how is it eco-friendly, economical or efficient to have individual residents burning gas to recycle? But I did it knowing that you would make our curbside recycling work. Yeah, well ...

Now all I have is a blue bin bursting full of recyclables and my disgust at the Hannemann administration's decision to give up on a project that we've already thrown a lot of money at. I know it was Mayor Hannemann's inheritance. A project he probably wouldn't have taken on. But it is his and it is the right thing to do for the 'aina. We need recycling to be done in the Islands. There is just not enough space.

Folks at Honolulu Hale should set aside their differences with what the previous administration has saddled them with and take this project on. Let's see if they can finally earn that paycheck and give us something we all want.

I want them to know that I will talk to everyone who will listen about this. I believe that this is important for us as a state and for myself and my young children. I want them to know that I won't let this one die without my fight.

SUBSIDY

SUPERFERRY'S COSTS ARE BEING FORCED ON US

Through my taxes, I am being compelled to pay my share of $40 million for "harbor improvement" to assist a private (government-subsidized) undertaking known as the Superferry with the promise of repayment over the next 20 years ($2.3 million per year).

I don't remember voting for this next greatest Hawai'i boondoggle. Did I? Did you? Did any of us even get asked about it? I don't remember. On whose campaign platform did any of us see it? Why are any of us being made to pay for something we may never use?

What is the true investment of the private parties involved and who makes out when the thing goes belly-up? Just a wild guess here, but I don't think it will be the public.

Will it ever really make any money? I think not. In that case, we'll be subsidizing it for years.

What will be the unintended outcomes? Infrastructure stress, imported crime, economic imbalance and irreversible ecological harm? We pay the lion's share.

There are so many problems — budgeting, fuel, the other forced rapid-transit programs for which we are being compelled to pay (light rail) — we need this other expense like a hole in the head. If people want something, they should do it, they should pay for it and, if it works out, then they should reap the reward. I should pay for some of it only if I decide to be part of it or use it, not told by our Republican guard that I must.

PRIORITIES

WIE'S PATH INCLUDES EDUCATION, MUCH MORE

To comment on the letter from Dustin Standel ("Education should be priority for all athletes," Oct. 19): Education is important, but look at what Michelle Wie has accomplished. She does well in school and she is promoting Hawai'i by being a phenomenal golfing "superstar." She is still getting a quality education at Punahou, which can be regarded as one of the top schools on O'ahu.

If you sidelined Michelle Wie and forced her to play in high school, she would never get this experience. They say you get better when you play with others at your caliber; as you can see, she is far beyond the high school level. If you have kids or are a kid yourself, wouldn't you want the opportunity to play with the pros, people you idolize, and if you can earn money doing so to not worry about the cost for education?

I believe if she can make it with the pros, and someone is willing to sponsor her, then it would be up to her as well as her parents to decide. Why should she suffer and wait until after high school, where she might get hurt, when she already is getting a great education?

SURPLUS

CUTTING STATE EXCISE TAX WOULD GREATLY BENEFIT US

What to do with the state's surplus?

The Legislature must be lusting after all the funds stacking up in the state coffers while the governor ponders things to do with the surplus.

The governor is on the right track when she says she is looking at the needs of Hawai'i's education system — at both the DOE schools and the University of Hawai'i.

She has also hinted at the idea of eliminating the excise tax on food, something the Republican Party has long sought with its platform of eliminating the excise tax on both food and drugs.

The governor is also looking at a tax rebate.

Before any group begins to divvy up the surplus, however, it is important to understand that overtaxing the population causes a surplus. It is the generation of tax revenues by government in excess of the basic needs of government.

So, instead of a refund, perhaps a better idea would be to use the surplus to shore up Hawai'i's education system and reduce the gross excise tax, statewide, to 3 1/2 percent. This would do several important things: