New evaluations a waste of time

It is disheartening to see the Star-Advertiser continue to drink the proverbial Kool-Aid with its support of the new teacher evaluation system (EES) and of linking teacher pay to student performance on standardized tests ("Don’t abandon linking tests to teacher pay," Star-Advertiser, Our View, Nov. 9).

Teachers and school administrators need to remind the public again and again of two basic facts:

» In light of the research demonstrating that the influence of current teachers on students’ standardized test scores is quite minimal, linking teacher pay to performance on them is not worth the time, money and manpower it eats up.

» Attending to the various components of EES has had a significant negative impact on the amount of time teachers may devote to instructing, assessing and developing curriculum for their students.

Although appearing to take the moral high road, this editorial is simply another ill-considered and misinformed case of teacher and teacher-union bashing.

Andy Jones
Language arts teacher McCully

Iraq ‘advisers’ recall Vietnam

I hope most people understand that Congress does not start wars. Presidents do.

Do people remember that in the early 1960s the president was sending troops to Vietnam as advisers and trainers of the South Vietnam military, and it continued until we were in a war?

The current president has sent 3,000 troops to Iraq as trainers and advisors. Does anyone see a pattern here?

Bill Bowles
Mililani

Gabbard seems to have conflict

What bothers me about U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s recent tour of duty with the Hawaii Army National Guard is the conflict of interest.

As a professional, Gabbard should have transferred to the Inactive National Guard when she was first elected to Congress. This would have avoided even the appearance of a conflict of interest.

How does her National Guard supervisor evaluate her performance when that supervisor depends on federal funding that the congresswoman votes on? And exactly how do you soldier 24/7 during a tour of duty and still represent your constituency in Congress?

And will Gabbard be OK voting for Department of Defense appropriations that eventually become pay for her and her fellow National Guardsmen?

Gabbard should have transferred to the Inactive Guard and put one career on hold while pursuing another when she was first elected to Congress.

It’ll be interesting to see how U.S. Rep.-elect Mark Takai handles this same situation.

Walter Sullivan
Makakilo

How about GMO people?

Perhaps we should mandate genetically modified people, if it provides jobs and is profitable for the private companies.

We could eliminate diversity and make thing predictable. Unfortunately, we would no longer own our genetics and our health might be more fragile.

Obviously this is crazy and I do not recommend it, but this is what we are doing to our produce.

Like plants, we thrive through diversity. Organic fruits and vegetables do not need high-dose pesticides and fertilizers, which pollute our environment. Organic seeds belong to everybody, not just to private companies with copyrights on their genetics.

Government needs to listen to citizens on Maui. They need our support. We will thrive with respect for nature and pono. This has worked for millions of years. GMO is not aloha.

Roger White, M.D.
Downtown Honolulu

Samoans have come long way

As a Samoan, I share the same sense of pride in Mufi Hannemann as Okinawans have in Gov.-elect David Ige.

He lost the governor’s race, but Hannemann was the first Samoan mayor.We also have a first Samoan U.S. congresswoman.

Even in football, where Samoan linemen have traditionally dominated, they are now re-positioned as quarterbacks.Once recruits, they now coach and recruit on the high school level.We can boast of a head coach on a nationally ranked college team.

We second-generation Samoans stand tall on the shoulders of immigrant parents. They braved alien territory to secure a promise for their progeny. Brown backs bent in labor, bullets of sweat beading on foreheads, itchy, stinging pine burns and calloused hands should remind us.

Hannemann lost due to voter apathy. Lest we forget, vote to make good on the promise.

Vernetta A. Hall
Laie