Letters

Bolante’s
excellent article raises some serious concerns. Since the state Legislature allowed
the conversion of public schools to charter schools in 1999 and approved the creation
of startup charter schools in 2000, one would assume the legislators like the
idea of charter schools. Why, then, do they treat charter-school students and
faculty as second-class citizens by giving them less funding than they give other
public schools? Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen says this “takes
into account the potential federal grants available to charter schools for which
regular schools aren’t eligible.” Applying for a grant doesn’t guarantee that
the grant will be funded. If the grant isn’t funded, it’s the charter-school students
who suffer. Is this what the Legislature had in mind?

The DOE and Board
of Education don’t count the years teachers spend in charter schools toward tenure.
Again, to quote Knudsen, “Charter schools can employ teachers that the DOE doesn’t
consider credentialed, and the department has no control over the hiring or firing
of their personnel.” This is a fallacious argument. Charter schools are accountable
under the same assessment measures as all other DOE schools. They can’t hire into
a teaching position anyone who is not credentialed. And they can’t keep an individual
longer than three years if the person doesn’t get licensed in that time. And what
about those DOE teachers who are already tenured within the DOE? Why should they
be penalized with loss of seniority if they move into the charter-school system?

The
DOE seems to have an “us against them” stigma against the charter schools. Yet
as Jim Shon, executive director of the Charter School Administrative Office, says,
“Charter schools have taken a constituency and provided services to it that nobody
else has.” Isn’t it time for the Legislature and the DOE to treat them fairly?

Nancy Alpert Mower, Honolulu

“GIVING VOICE,” NOVEMBER 2004

Constance Hale’s profile of kumu hula John Keola Lake.

I was
most impressed by the article on John Keola Lake. A Mainland haole, I was working
in Hawai’i some 20 years ago when I began to study the Hawaiian language with
him. My wife, a päkë, studied the hula with him. We were both delighted by him
and his teaching methods. He is more than an outstanding Hawaiian, he is an outstanding
human being. I am sure he would be pleased if, as the Honolulu Star-Bulletin now
does weekly, you included some items in the Hawaiian language in your magazine.
And kudos on the proper orthography. Keep up the good work. We return quite often
and my wife and I depend on you to keep us up-to-date on what’s happening on the
Islands.

Leon M. S. Slawecki, Washington, Va.

“Ku-‘E-,”
NOVEMBER 2004
Ed Greevy’s photo essay chronicling moments in the Hawaiian
sovereignty movement.

As a visiting former Kalihi native, I found
your November Holiday Annual edition in my hotel room at the Hawai’i Prince Hotel
and read it from cover to cover. I enjoyed every article, loved the variety of
subjects. I was also very touched by the picture of the woman cradling and smiling
at her child [in “Kü’ë”]. It was the most sincere expression of love that I have
ever seen.

Ruth Mizumoto, via e-mail

“VOTING BY
DESIGN,” NOVEMBER 2004
A. Kam Napier’s Afterthoughts criticizing Hawai’i’s
single-party primary.

Napier wants to dump the single-party primary.
The primary election is to pick the party candidate. The election for crossover
voting is called the general election.

Lynne Matusow, Honolulu

Napier
replies: Yes, that’s
absolutely true. But it doesn’t have to be. Even a completely nonpartisan primary
could be useful as the first round in runoff elections for high-profile races,
where many candidates throw their names into the ring. Or, to pursue my point
in the column even further, we could skip the hassle and expense of a primary
election-which voters tend to blow off anyway-and just go right to a free-for-all
general election.

Letters to the Editor may be sent to: Honolulu Magazine,
P.O. Box 913, Honolulu, HI, 96808-0913, faxed: 537-6455 or e-mailed: letters_honmag@pacificbasin.net