SCHOOLS

SOCIETY MUST RETHINK ITS EDUCATION GOALS

The articles written by The Advertiser Teen Editorial Board were very thoughtful and reminded me of three educational principles that are sadly neglected.

First is the importance of motivating our students toward becoming lifelong learners. Because of the increasing growth of knowledge and information, it has become impossible to teach everything about any given subject. Furthermore, teaching to the test and No Child Left Behind impose immense limitations on learning.

Second is the question of balance in regard to the necessary subject areas. With the increasing emphasis on math, science and technology, the subjects of foreign language, art, music and physical education are diminished. The result is a deplorable imbalance.

Third, and the most important, is the essential purpose of education: graduating good and wise people. Enabling students to choose the principles and virtues that will guide/direct their lives means integrating character education and community service into the curriculum.

Students need to develop the ability to make good decisions, maintain good relationships and become good citizens.

Our society needs to think deeply about what it means to be a truly educated person.

TRAFFIC

BOAT COMMUTE OFFERS WONDERFUL ALTERNATIVE

For the past 20-plus years I have commuted from Makakilo to Downtown Honolulu by car, express buses and, most recently, TheBoat.

There have been a lot of negative remarks about the ferry service. The Rachel Marie has not been operational quite a bit since the service began — but, in all fairness to the city, TheBus and TheBoat staff, here are a few positive remarks.

Everyone involved in the operation of this project should be commended. The Melissa Ann has been running consistently, rain or shine, since inception.

The employees of Hornblower Marine Services are friendly, helpful and courteous. TheBus provides shuttles that are reliable and on time.

What a wonderful alternative to sitting in traffic everyday to and from Honolulu! Where else can you go home in the afternoon on a boat, out on the ocean and see whales heading to Maui? You can enjoy the view of Diamond Head, Waikiki and the 'Ewa coastline for $2 one-way.

It's a shame that more people from the Leeward coast are not giving this service a chance. In June, the construction starts on H-1 and commuters will be detoured through the 'Ewa Plain and traffic will be horrible. I will be drinking coffee and reading my morning paper on TheBoat. Give it a try. Your peace of mind will thank you.

BUILDING MORE ROADS NOT ANSWER TO WOES

I recently came across a report from the National Association of Realtors and Smart Growth America that found that more than three-quarters of Americans believe that improving public transportation and building communities where people don't have to drive as much will do more to improve traffic flow than building new roads.

While it is clear that many Mainland solutions don't work for us here, I think we feel the same sentiment.

There are many ways to approach our traffic problem, and I don't believe building more roads will do it.

We are on the right track, moving forward with the mass-transit system and working toward supporting transit-oriented development.

In developing O'ahu, we must look forward, and proceed with methods that will benefit the public as a whole.

I do not want to see this beautiful island turned into a roadway sandwich with layers upon layers of roads.

ELECTIONS

PUBLIC FUNDING REFORM A POSITIVE STEP FORWARD

Thank you for writing about the Hawai'i County Council's recent vote to champion for HB 661, which would allow Hawai'i County Council candidates an option of running under a fully public-financed campaign.

This is the type of legislation that fuels democracy by allowing people to get into office without having to rely on pandering to large donors' special interests.

And, according to other states that have passed this sort of legislation, it gets voters to the polls in significantly greater numbers.

It would be irresponsible for legislators to not pass HB 661 this year, especially since Hawai'i has some of the lowest voter turnouts in the country and there is such strong support for HB 661 from residents and their representatives on the Big Island.

I have been part of Democracy Matters for two years at UH-Hilo. It is a national student-led movement that is specifically concerned with helping the issue of clean elections progress.

It is refreshing to see front-page coverage of this reform, that makes all other reforms possible, in your newspaper. Hopefully, our politicians will understand what a majority of their constituents desire.

CONCON

MORE SCHOOL BOARDS WON'T FIX EDUCATION

Telling just part of the story about public education funding is misleading. It's intellectual dishonesty. It also detracts from the needs of schools and students.

The Jan. 6 letter by Linda Smith, the governor's senior policy adviser, attempts to shore up support for a constitutional convention to "fix public education" through local school boards.

Citing the $2.5 billion Department of Education budget is fine, but shouldn't the public be fully informed that education dollars go beyond teaching kids to read, write, and do math?

The DOE budget provides meals, transportation, special education services, counseling services and after-school care services to students. The DOE budget also covers debt service, fringe benefits, and utility, personnel, and facilities costs. Education services cost more today than they did yesterday, and those services will cost even more tomorrow.

There's good reason to fund public education. It's for the nearly 180,000 kids who deserve quality teaching, quality facilities, and quality programs.

More school boards will not improve student performance. Instead of using money to create more school boards, we should use the money to support student learning in our schools and classrooms.

HONOLULU SYMPHONY

FOOTBALL NOT ONLY ASSET JEOPARDIZED BY ERRORS

As a proud UH graduate, I took great pride in our football season and bemoaned the administrative debacle at UH. Yet football is not the only community asset jeopardized by poor administration.

Like our football team, the Honolulu Symphony boasts outstanding talent and world-class leadership, yet shortsighted administration threatens its viability at what should be its finest moment. More than 60 dedicated musicians — who are poorly paid even during the best of times — have been working without paychecks.

Our family enjoyed "The Lion King," but it could have played during the summer rather than in the prime weeks of the short symphony season. With better planning, the city could have avoided jeopardizing the livelihoods of our musicians who, like UH, must make do with inadequate resources. Shouldn't we direct some outrage toward this failure also?

Some may call classical music a frill, but music is no more a frill than sports. And our musicians, like our athletes, enrich our lives considerably. They perform magnificent concerts, they teach our children, they volunteer in our schools.

I recently attended a children's concert with my son's class, and the children's enthusiastic response was thrilling to witness. Do we realize how diminished our lives would be without the symphony?

Many folks have offered support and our musicians have now been partially compensated, but the crisis is not over. Let's not be so distracted by football that we forget about the other administrative fumbles currently threatening the vitality of our community.

POTHOLES

HONOLULU'S ROADWAYS ARE AN EMBARRASSMENT

I agree with William Holtzman's letter of Jan. 7. The roads in Iraq are better than the roads and streets in Honolulu. And you should see the size of potholes there.

The feeble attempt by the city workers to repair the streets would bring one to believe that they don't want to do a good job repairing them. Could it be job security?

Where I live in Honolulu, we haven't seen any kind of street repair since Mayor Jeremy Harris left office.

Date and Citron streets between University and McCully have more holes than actual street.

I have lived in Hawai'i for 15 years, and all of that time it seems Kapi'olani Boulevard has been torn up for "repairs."

The streets in Honolulu are an embarrassment.

Everybody knows that when you repair a pothole you don't just pour tar and gravel in the hole. It has to be dry and then you have to heat the hole and the mix to the same temperature to get them to bond.