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Money can influence, but not necessarily buy
For those who worry about big money determining elections — which is just about anybody who laments the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling — it was a little disconcerting to learn shortly after the recent mayoral election that outside sources joined to give winning candidate Kirk Caldwell a 2-to-1 spending edge over former Gov. Ben Cayetano, even though individually their campaigns directly had spent about the same amount: $10.55 per vote each.
But proving the old adage that correlation is not causation, now we learn that in the race for U.S. Senate, former Gov. Linda Lingle outspent U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono by about 65 percent — $34.13 versus $20.58 per vote — and outside spending was known to be in Lingle’s favor as well. Yet Lingle lost, and quite handily: 37 percent to 62 percent. So it looks like money can’t buy elections after all, except sometimes, maybe.
New charter schools go on a voyage of learning
As innovative laboratories, charter schools continue to grow in the state Department of Education, and the latest are focused on voyaging and questions of life experiences.
Nainoa Thompson, president of the Voyaging Society, and Robert Witt of the Hawaiian Educational Council have joined in proposing the Malama Honua Learning Center. And the School of Examining Essential Questions of Sustainability, or SEEQS, is gearing up as a home of real-world situations. Both have been approved by the Public Charter School Commission.
"Charter schools that start off strong tend to stay strong," says William Haft of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. "My primary message is that the bar is high on the front end."
That description seems to apply to the latest charters in Hawaii.