Early education worth the effort put into it

The editorial and the article about special education in Hawaii costing 20 percent of the Department of Education’s budget were extremely timely ("Preschool aid now will pay off later," Star-Advertiser, Dec. 13).

A number of nationally recognized economic studies have shown that investing in quality early education for our keiki will reduce special education and grade retention rates. The 2009 Hawaii study reported that investing in quality early education for 4-year-olds in Hawaii would reduce the special education rate by

21 percent for at-risk children and

8.4 percent for other children. The state grade-retention rate would fall by 25 percent for at-risk children;

20 percent for other children.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s proposal to appoint a Cabinet-level director for early childhood would be a great step toward efficiently coordinating the myriad of early childhood programs that now fall under the departments of education, health and human services.

Lingle worked to keep child care subsidies

A Star-Advertiser editorial correctly emphasizes the importance of early childhood education for low-income families ("Preschool aid now will pay off later," Star-Advertiser, Dec. 13).

However, the editorial gave the false impression that the Lingle-Aiona administration harmed needy families by cutting the budget for preschool tuitions.

In 2009, the Lingle administration increased the child care subsidy budget by $8.5 million, bringing the annual total to nearly $66 million.

However, that $66 million was being depleted faster than expected due to a surge in families applying for aid and higher rates charged by child care providers.

Accordingly, the administration in February switched from a three-step to a 10-step sliding scale of payments, with the poorest families receiving the largest subsidies and the highest-income families receiving the smallest. This also eliminated the "cliff effect" that had prompted some parents to minimize their earnings so they still qualified for large subsidies.

Homes at base of cliffs should have insurance

I watch with amazement, year after year, as people build or buy their homes at the bases of steep hillsides.

I am further amazed when I see these cliff-bottom homeowners being interviewed on the television news expressing their outrage at the audacity of the property owners above them not having foreseen a boulder falling down the hillside and damaging persons and property.

Dear homeowner, when you were building or buying your home, did you not look up and assess the hillside? It would not take a genius to ascertain that the odds of a rock rolling off the mountain were fairly certain.

I would require these cliff-bottom homeowners to carry extra rock insurance, just as we require extra insurance for those who live in other natural disaster-prone areas.

League hopes Hawaii can revive symphony

The court approval of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing by the Honolulu Symphony marks a painful loss for its community. Today, Hawaii no longer boasts one of the nation’s oldest orchestras. Instead, it is now the only U.S. state without a professional orchestra.

Music can touch anyone, especially young people, regardless of their income or background. It enhances our sense of meaning and connection to the world and our appreciation of its diversity. Experiencing live orchestral music can be transformative and is an opportunity that every human being deserves and communities want. That is why, of the 14 professional orchestras that we know have closed their doors since 1986, all but four have been reborn in some form.

The League of American Orchestras fervently hopes that Hawaii will soon have an orchestra again, and we offer our assistance to any who work toward that aim.