Letters to the Editor - Letters

What a world we live in.? Teachers complaining about pay cuts, but they did not say a pip when they got pay raised last year. Students will suffer they say. Right On. If Students are really your concern why dont you volunteer your time to teach on those furlough days. I volunteer by time at Catholic Charities to give food to the needy because I cant stand seeing all the women and children standing in line to get free food to feed their families. I also donate monies to Catholic Charities. Time to Walk the Walk Teachers, Talk is cheap.

LOL, Jim hiro...talk is indeed cheap....and so is the pay scale for Hawaii teachers who already have gotten a slap in the face by the last "raise" if you want to call it that. Look at the rate they are paid compared to elsewhere.....and then look at the quality of resources they have to work with, insufficient numbers of textbooks, and other impossible limitations and tell me they should volunteer. I laugh in your general direction and anyone else that says they should volunteer to teach. Its more than a matter of pride for Hawaii teachers now...its become a matter of mere survival and there comes a time when cuts are enough. They have to stand up for themselves because apparently no one else is or will...at least not right now. Yes, the students may suffer, but you cant blame the teachers....they've been doing the best they can with limited resources for the last decade at least. Get real Jimhiro....get real, take a breath, and stop thumping your chest. No one cares for the hollow echo of an empty heart and and empty head.

Wait a minute, a raise is a raise, whether it's 1%, 4%, or 7%. Any amount of increase is an increase. Do you want to talk about volunteering and teacher dedication? I used to teach when there actually were strikes. Even though we were reprimanded, I used to arrange places at libraries, parks, etc. to teach and help any and all students that wanted the extra time. It never dawned on me that money should come first. Volunteering to give your time for something you truly believe in is a no-brainer. So, I agree with jimhiro, time to walk the walk teachers!

I think that last raise was ill gotten, since they didn't hold up their end of the bargain in agreeing to get drug tested.
Also, the teachers here have shorter work hours than most mainland schools.
Schools all over are suffering, I am not sure just where all the money goes, since it doesn't seem to be to the classrooms. Has to be top heavy.
On furlough days, why don't you stagger the days off for the teachers and double the classes up that day in larger areas/field trips, under a tree, anywhere, and no child has to stay home?
Find a solution somewhere.

As a Behavior Specialist for the DOE, I am an HGEA employee who works with the teachers. Although I am not under the same contract, this development affects me as I will not be able to provide crucial services to special needs students on those days when they are getting furloughed. Not only that, but I am very concerned about how these furloughs will affect the ability of schools to meet federal mandates for No Child Left Behind when special education students will not be receiving the amount of services mandated in their IEPs!

when we see juvenile delinquency, property crimes, increased violence among juveniles, lowered test scores, increased teen pregnancies, etc. we can all gather together at the state capital and thank the governor for causing all of it.
What a legacy she will be leaving behind.

Why don't they simply not receive pay for state and federal holidays? That way, the kids stay in school the same number of days but teachers still take the necessary cuts? Or is that not enough blood for that leach sitting in the governor's mansion?

@Bob Double-up classes? Haha did you ever work with up to 60 teenage students in the public schools, whose parents don't teach them respect at home? I didn't think so.

Yeah right wrote:

@Bob Double-up classes? Haha did you ever work with up to 60 teenage students in the public schools, whose parents don't teach them respect at home? I didn't think so.

What else do you expect from these people who have no children and are completely out of touch with the working class?

Yeah right wrote:

@Bob Double-up classes? Haha did you ever work with up to 60 teenage students in the public schools, whose parents don't teach them respect at home? I didn't think so.

Just trying to come up with some kind of a solution, instead of knocking someone trying.
What is your solution?
As for the disprect, well, it is all over, but the teenagers that are getting ready for college will be sitting in classrooms much larger and the younger set should be able to be handled, rules have to be laid out and then followed. If they don't like it or mommy and daddy doesn't like Jr. following the rules, well, then they had better learn to home school.
They need to put discipline and accountability back in the schools.
Every child, has the right to a safe and peaceful education, the ones that wish to not follow the rules, are gone.