Counties should get more of TAT

I can certainly understand Mayor Billy Kenoi’s position on proposing an increase in the general excise tax or levying a surcharge, considering the need for funding our infrastructure.

However, I cannot help but note that our governor touts, "We have a surplus of $844 million." I am reasonably certain he will use that line in a campaign ad in his upcoming re-election bid.

Where did this so-called surplus come from? There are three possible answers: 1. Oahu’s infrastructure is suffering like ours here on the island of Hawaii because of lack of funding; 2. We are already overtaxed; 3. Our state legislators’ "theft" of the transient accommodations tax.

I would choose the latter, even though our mayor has the good grace not to call it "theft."

Ron Baptista
Mountain View, Hawaii island

Pre-K schooling deserves funds

The proposal by the state Department of Education and Executive Office on Early Learning to offer free pre-kindergarten classes to children of low-income families helps to address the state’s early education needs ("Pre-K plan comprises 640 students, 30 campuses," Star-Advertiser, Jan. 10).

However it is only available to a select few, while the current DOE junior kindergarten program serves a far greater number.

Studies have shown that pre-kindergarten offers long-term educational benefits, and therefore the Hawaii State Teachers Association believes that publicly funded, quality pre-kindergarten programs should be universal and available to all Hawaii’s 4-year-old children. This includes placing certified licensed teachers into these programs.

Educating our keiki is everyone’s kuleana. We need to work together to do our part, inside and outside the classroom, to ensure that Hawaii’s children receive the best opportunities to succeed.

Wil Okabe
HSTA president

Preschool funds will be wasted

The commentary by Dee Jay Mailer and Mitch D’Olier disappoints because it fails to connect their recommendations with student performance ("More reforms needed to assure educational success," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Jan. 15).

They propose funding universal preschool, but it would be money wasted. The most comprehensive early education study to date concludes that all progress made by children due to attending high-quality preschool disappears after only a few years, if they continue at mediocre elementary schools. Hawaii’s public schools are continually ranked among the bottom 10 in the nation.

They propose raising the superintendent’s pay to be competitive with other school systems of similar size. Instead, teacher pay should be raised to be competitive with other professions.

They propose restoring funding to the state Department of Education’s central office. However, many studies cite the large DOE central office as a major barrier to educational improvement because it demands standardization, stifling creativity and innovation at the school level.

John Kawamoto
Kaimuki

Food trucks should play fair

Food trucks should not be allowed to bid for reserved, street parking stalls at lunch hour.

These private business owners should be required to conduct their businesses on private business real property, as other business ventures are required to do.

To be given such prime parking spaces would be unethical by the standards followed in business. It would be unfair to the majority of businesses that pay the high cost of having to operate and do business in Honolulu.

Wilbert Wong Sr.
Kaneohe

‘Slur’ was used by Reagan aide

In Thomas Sowell’s most recent rant, "’Trickle-downeconomics’ exists only as political slur," (Star-Advertiser, Jan. 11), he scoldsall liberals who continue to employ as criticism this most specious concept, a concept that is impossible to document with any reputable source.

But perhaps Sowell has been blindedby his own efforts to slur everyone who doesn’t agree with his conservative ideology.

David Stockman, President Ronald Reagan’s budget director and hardly a liberal, used this same criticism, "trickle- down economics," to critique Reaganomicsand, more generally, the conservative defense of the free market.

Stockman knew that the quest for a "reputable source" was a specious argument. For, as he stated, thewidely held emphasis on "supply-side economics" was really a euphemism for "trickle-down economics."

Mark Helbling
Manoa