Hawaii falling behind in early education

The article, "Isles among 11 states that lack a state-funded preschool" (Star-Advertiser, April 10), based on the annual National Institute for Early Education Research report, is truly alarming for our keiki.

Hawaii continues to be among the few states that have never established a state-funded preschool program in this past decade.It’s disturbing to see how little progress we’ve made for our keiki statewide.

This is counter to our state’s leading role in the history of early education in the United States.

In 1943 in the midst of World War II, Hawaii became one of the first states to establish full-day kindergarten, through the vision and fortitude of Mary Castle. We were ahead of other states then. Now we are behind 39 other states that have funded some type of preschool education.

If we want to ensure Hawaii’s future generations will compete in a global knowledge economy, let us voice our support for children with our legislators by joining grassroots efforts like Be My Voice! Hawai‘i campaign at www.bemyvoicehawaii.org, so we can begin to climb from the bottom to the top.

Al Castle
Executive director and treasurer, Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation
Dee Jay Mailer
CEO, Kamehameha Schools

Natatorium is where city lifeguards belong

Mahalo for the informative article on the Kapiolani Park Preservation Society’s efforts to enforce the public trust and protect open space in the park from illegal development ("No walk in the park," Star-Advertiser, April 8).

In 2001, following the partial restoration of the Natatorium, The city’s Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division’s South Shore operations office and rescue unit "came home" to the very same space that the city’s lifeguards had worked from since the 1930s — including luminaries such as double Olympic Gold medalist Bill Smith, who served as Water Safety Department director from 1950 to 1980.

Hawaii’s swimming and ocean sports history is deeply rooted in the Natatorium. Let’s keep the lifeguards where they truly belong and preserve park space for access by all.

Donna L. Ching
Vice president, Friends of the Natatorium

Governor should veto exemptions proposal

My thanks to David Shapiro for his column onSenate Bill 2927, which seeks exemptions from environmental review for developments around rail stations and bus transit centers ("Rail development proposal fails to give public a voice," Star-Advertiser, Volcanic Ash, April 11).

It is, indeed, an arrogant bill that imperiously tries to shut out public participation in decisions that will profoundly affect our neighborhoods and our quality of life.

It makes a mockery of zoning and good planning.

It disdains the efforts of those who have devoted decades of their lives to the implementation of existing sensible environmental laws.

It strips individual communities of their democratic right to determine the fate of the places in which they live.

I hope that should this irresponsible special interest bill reach the governor’s office that he will stand up for the public interest and veto it.

Ursula Retherford
Kailua

GSA scandal should not come as surprise

The recent articles on the U.S. General Services Administration’s indifferent use of taxpayer’s money should come as no surprise to anyone who follows these things.

Our government, especially at the federal level, has gone from "serving the people" to serving itself.

Its huge and far-reaching bureaucracy has morphed into an entitlement program for its employees, safe from scrutiny and accountability and out of touch with the workings of the real world.

Ask any federal employee if they have ever heard of or witnessed someone doing something absurd, something that would never be tolerated in the private sector. Stories abound.

The GSA is but a small part of the monster that is our federal government, and bureaucrats would just as soon we hand over all our hard-earned money, even if they can’t keep track of how it’s being spent.

The sad part about all of this is that honest, dedicated and hard-working employees get dragged through the muck with the bad press.

Orson Moon
Aiea

What kind of person vandalizes a zoo?

I am just so angered by the senseless and destructive vandalism of the Honolulu Zoo’s bird cages.

What kind of person willingly and knowingly wants to cause harm to these defenseless birds?

Most of these beautiful birds know only captivity and are unable to fend for themselves, like the tawny frogmouth, which has probably starved to death because it required hand feeding.

This land of aloha has really just changed, and not for the better.

Times are hard for us, with worsening crime, a skyrocketing cost of living, horrendous trafficand acts of depraved, thoughtless indifference.

I pray for all of us to survive times like this and hope for more kind, sane folks to help preserve the aloha in our state.

Chris Sakomoto
Hawaii Kai