RESIDENTIAL AREAS NOT FOR TRANSIENT LODGING

Supporters of allowing transient lodging in our residential zones must be aware of the far-reaching consequences of their decisions.

Tourism is our biggest business, but should it be our only business? Should we give up the basic building block of communities? Are we so desperate for tourist dollars now that we leverage the assets that are so important for the diversity needed for our future economic sustainability? Doctors, professors, entrepreneurs and the military won't relocate to an area that doesn't have safe residential communities. Shouldn't we nurture the essentials that sustain a variety of forms of business needed to keep our economy healthy?

Those who are supporting turning our residential and agricultural areas into resort areas must be conscious of how much they enjoy consuming the goose, because it will be tragic when the golden eggs are gone.

paula ress | Kailua

FURLOUGHS

BOE, HSTA DID NOT MAKE KIDS A PRIORITY

It is nauseating to see Garrett Toguchi (Board of Education) and Wil Okabe (HSTA) bemoan teacher furloughs on instructional days when they made the choice among other viable alternatives. Perhaps unwittingly, teacher Corey Yasuda shamelessly exposes HSTA's hypocrisy when he says "We felt that if we have to shoulder a burden, we should have a deal in which everybody feels the effect of what the governor wants" ("Students still Hawaii teachers' top concern amid budget crunch," Oct. 25.)

Hopefully, Hawaii's public school students, parents, legislators and voters are not fooled by union and BOE statements that our children's education is their first priority. It is all about political hardball. I hope voters throw lots of high and tight fastballs in the voting booths next fall in support of the real home team.

mark torreano | Honolulu

PUBLIC SHOULD SPEAK OUT ON FURLOUGHS

A recent letter to the editor (Mark K. Murakami, Oct. 13), discusses the teacher furloughs negotiated by the DOE, the HSTA and the Lingle administration.

Mr. Murakami states that "as a community, we should defer to their respective judgment as to what is best for the students, teachers, parents and the rest of us." In other words, we should passively accept this decision without question.

He goes on to state: "Who is to say that a lost Friday of classroom instruction is more important than other state services, also subject to cutbacks?"

Respectfully, Mr. Murakami, we, the taxpayers, have the say as to what services are more important to us, and we have a right and duty to speak up when we think the government that works for us is making a horrible decision.

I, for one, don't equate one teacher furlough day to one state worker furlough day. Both types of furloughs are suboptimal, and I value the services of all state workers. However, the educational furloughs are much worse for society as they will deprive our children and future leaders of a quality education.

I urge all those who don't agree with the teacher furlough decision to speak out.

JESSICA PEREZ-MESA | Käneohe

LEGISLATURE NEEDS TO CALL SPECIAL SESSION

A main responsibility of state government is to provide adequate public education for its citizens. Hawaii has failed: the governor, the Board of Education and the Legislature all share the blame. The solution is simple: Restore the funding to the DOE.

It is the Legislature's responsibility to do this, whether from the Hurricane Relief Fund, the rainy-day fund or through raising taxes. Legislators may point fingers at the governor or the DOE, but now the ball is in their court. They need to call a special session of the Legislature now to deal with the problem.

House Speaker Calvin Say said it will have to wait for the regular session. That means nothing will happen before the end of the school year. If Speaker Say is opposed to a special session, we voters should do our utmost to vote him out office in the next election for his betrayal of public trust.

Any legislator who does not support a special session and legislation to cancel the furloughs should be voted out of office.

We voters should not be apathetic. Call your legislators and urge them to have a special session.

robert j. littman | Honolulu

GRUMBLERS SHOULD CUT ALL THE SHIBAI

The parents, teachers, students and unions grumbling about furloughs and claiming kids won't be learning anything — what about when they are off for summer vacation, spring vacation, and all the holiday vacations plus all the teacher instructional days? Isn't their education being compromised because of all these days off?

Cut the shibai and get on with it.

lloyd y. yamasaki| Wahiawä

FURLOUGHS

HAWAI'I HAS SOLD OUTON STUDENTS' FUTURES

Having been an educator in the state of Hawaii for 23 years, I wholeheartedly agree with Education Secretary Arne Duncan's commentary (Oct. 23) that indeed, Hawaii erred in cutting education. Cutting the number of class days from 180 to 163 amounts to nearly a 10 percent reduction in class time. Such a reduction can only mean further declines in the achievement scores of Hawaii's keiki.

According to a recent (2007) NAEP report for eighth-grade reading achievement, 44 states scored higher than Hawaii, putting us in the bottom 14 percent of the nation. We should be doing everything in our power to increase the achievement of our students, not widening the performance gap.

By cutting education, we are literally selling out the futures of the sons and daughters of Hawaii. I am both outraged and deeply saddened that those in power have allowed this atrocity to occur. It may take decades to make up for the long-term damage that this creates.

Joe Mobley, Ph.D. | Honolulu