Narrow pay gap to keep teachers

It is disheartening to see the Star-Advertiser take the wrong stance on nearly every educational issue ("Hold principals to higher standards," Star-Advertiser, Our View, April 24).

I am very fortunate to work at a school with a history of strong administrators, past and present. However, it is common knowledge among experienced teachers that school administrators are rarely drawn from the pool of strongest teachers.

In Hawaii, this fact is exacerbated by chronically low teacher salaries and comparatively poor work environments, which cause scores of fledgling teachers each year to flee their classrooms in pursuit of the higher salaries and air-conditioned offices that administrative positions afford.

The proper stance to take is to support narrowing the gap between teacher and administrative salaries, thus discouraging novice teachers from pursuing an administrative path before they have acquired a sufficient breadth of experience to effectively administer schools.

Andy Jones
McCully

New law could hurt Kupuna Care

While many seniors celebrated the Legislature’s $4.2 million appropriation to the state’s Kupuna Care program, the damaging language in the enabling legislation may be felt for years to come.

That’s because Senate Bill 2346 opened the door for Medicaid-eligible residents to potentially access Kupuna Care services, which was not the program’s original intent.

Since its establishment in 1999, Kupuna Care has been a program of last resort for lower- and middle-income frail elderly to turn for home and community-based services that delay or prevent the need for costly institutional care.

Its intent is to help residents avoid impoverishing themselves and winding up in Medicaid.

By expanding Kupuna Care to Medicaid-eligible individuals, lawmakers have provided an incentive for more people to access this limited pool of state funds. This could leaving vulnerable another group of older folks — those with no public services — who, without services, may themselves become impoverished in the future.

Anthony Lenzer
President, Hawaii Family Caregiver Coalition

HECO and city worked quickly

Hawaiian Electric Co. gave us a net-metering agreement in a week, the city’s electrical inspector approved our installation in a week after the electricians completed the work, and HECO installed our net meter about one week after that ("Solar survey blisters HECO," Star-Advertiser, April 24).

Our installation included a new overhead service drop to the relocated meter box, which HECO did within a few days of being asked by the electricians.

I don’t see how anybody could have done it faster. I do not believe that HECO dragged its feet.

The city responded quickly also, with the electronic permit filing system now in place, and very quick electrical inspection to close the permit.

One of the six solar energy vendors I interviewed before selecting a contractor, would not provide an estimate until I signed a contract.

I was told, "You can always back out later."

They also seemed more intent on leasing a system, not selling one.

Sign a contract and not know the price?

I decided not to do business with them.

Gene Dashiell
Kailua

Ignore, not ban, opposing views

I chuckle about how differently liberals and conservatives deal with opinions they don’t like.

Dan Berman typified a liberal’s approach when he suggested that the Star-Advertiser stop printing Thomas Sowell’s column ("Sowell columns often repulsive," Star-Advertiser, Letters, April 30).

I love the column and would hate to be deprived of its wisdom and insights.

Rather than banning opinions that we find "repulsive," conservatives simply don’t read them, switch channels or hit the mute button.

If everyone thought like Berman, the editorial pages would be empty and broadcast commentary would be silent.

Geoff Boehm
Waikiki