UPW Fires Employees for Refusing to Contribute to Hanabusa
CBO: Hawaii Faces $2.1B Medicare Cuts Under Obamacare
Obesity Study: Hawaii Could Save $2.7B By Eliminating 5%
Micronesians: Stop Abercrombie's Healthcare Discrimination
Hawaii Congressional Delegation: How They Voted September 17, 2012
Neither Jurisdiction Has Authority to Solve Hawaii County Election Problems
15-20 % of Hawaii DoE HS Teachers Violate Federal Law, 45% ineffective
SA: Eighty-five percent of Hawaii secondary school classes are taught by teachers rated as "highly qualified," up 20 percentage points from five years ago but still short of the state's goal of having a fully certified teacher in every classroom, new figures show.
Hawaii has historically struggled to increase its percentages of highly qualified teachers, in part because of perennial shortages and high turnover in some subject areas and at hard-to-staff schools.
In 2010-11, Hawaii ranked second from the bottom among states for the percentage of core classes taught by highly qualified teachers. Utah was last.
Nationally, 96 percent of core classes are taught by highly qualified teachers.
The new state figures show elementary schools are near the 100 percent mark, with 97 percent of core classes taught by highly qualified teachers. (3% violate federal law)
At middle and high schools the figures are lower. In the 2011-12 school year, 85 percent of secondary classes were taught by highly qualified teachers, up from 77 percent in 2008-09 and 65 percent in 2007-08. (Notice Vorsino dropped the word “core” from this sentence. Since it is Vorsino, it is only fair to assume she is covering for the DoE here so this means that 15% violate federal law.)
At secondary schools that serve high-poverty areas, 8 in 10 classes are taught by highly qualified teachers…. (20% violate federal law)
Federal law mandates that all core academic subjects be taught by a highly qualified teacher. "Highly qualified" means a teacher has a bachelor's degree or higher, is fully licensed, has demonstrated subject-matter competency in the courses they teach and has passed required teaching exams…. (20% don’t meet this standard.)
Meanwhile the department wants to make a distinction between "highly qualified" and "effective" as defined by the planned teacher evaluation system, two terms the DOE says are not necessarily synonymous. The DOE wants every teacher to be both, and so is also advancing efforts to revamp teacher induction and evaluation systems.
The new teacher evaluation system, which includes student performance data, will be taken statewide in 2013-14. That school year, the DOE wants 55 percent of teachers in schools serving high-poverty communities to be "highly effective" — highly qualified and effective. For the following year the DOE's goal is 75 percent. (They are hoping to find that ‘only 45% are ineffective.)
read … Feds Force Reform
Unions Burn $64K on Lazy Mazie
PR: Working Families for Hawaii, a labor-backed interest group, has spent more than $63,900 on television advertisements critical of former Gov. Linda Lingle’s Republican campaign for U.S. Senate.
The ad buy is the first independent expenditure by an interest group in the November general election campaign between Lingle and U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono. The group had purchased ads on behalf of Hirono in her Democratic primary against former congressman Ed Case.
read … Union Bosses
Lingle Correctly Cites Sequence of Events in Hirono Flip Flop
CB: BOTTOM LINE: Linda Lingle's campaign correctly cites the sequence of events: Mazie Hirono voted in favor of the automatic across-the-board budget cuts proposal last summer. Now, she says it's a bad idea. Yet she voted against a proposal that would eliminate it for some important federal programs.
just for laughs, read … How Civil Beat makes this come out as “Mostly False”
Caldwell, Cayetano Debate Monday
DN: Monday, September 24, 2012 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Miyama Main Hall, Harris United Methodist Church Nuuanu Ave. and South Vineyard Blvd.
read … Kokua Council
Oahu has fourth-largest military work force in U.S.
PBN: Oahu had a total labor force of 501,779 in 2010, with 38,936 armed forces members at the island’s military bases. That amounted to about 776 armed forces members per 10,000 workers, according to the analysis by On Numbers, an affiliate of Pacific Business News.
That ratio ranked the City and County of Honolulu at No. 29 among 942 metropolitan and micropolitan areas in the United States.
But, when Oahu is ranked by number of military personnel, it comes in at No. 4, behind No. 1 Virginia Beach-Norfolk with 79,770 armed forces members, the San Diego-Carlsbad area in California with 77,935 armed forces members, and the Washington, D.C., area with 47,837 members of the military.
read … Fourth
School Bullies: Senator Wants More Systematic Approach to DOE Plan
CB: The department started rolling out a "new, enhanced comprehensive student support system" last month that focuses on academic and behavioral development, Nakasato said. Built into that new system is the Peaceful Schools initiative, which involves everything from routine staff trainings to timely student assessments.
As part of the initiative, schools will be required to provide annual anti-bullying presentations and develop prevention and intervention strategies, she said.
A color-coded early warning system and self-assessment tools are another part of the equation, Nakasato said.
"It's a combination of all of these factors that pulls together how we begin to address anti-bullying, anti-harassment kinds of issues," she said.
The senator had some concerns over the criteria used in the early warning system to flag kids as at-risk. In particular, Chun Oakland said a student's grades are not necessarily a good indicator, as evidenced by some recent suicides.
Nakasato said she couldn't say off-hand what all the criteria were in evaluating students. She also wasn't sure if the data could be shared with other agencies, like the Department of Human Services, whose representative said the agency wants to be more active in the discussion.
The department has recognized that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work, Nakasato said. So the district is working to identify a list of research-based programs that administrators adopt for their school….
Chun Oakland said she still has concerns over how students report incidents of bullying, especially if they're being bullied by their teachers….
In the next couple years, the district is looking at a universal screener for behavior, like the one they have for academics, which would be across all schools, Nakasato said.
read … Bullying
City Takes Aim at top Medical Consumers
SA: The city Department of Emergency Services reviewed its log of 911 calls and found a top 10 list of patients, most of them served by EMS dozens of times in a year — 527 help calls in all. Topping that list was a single individual for whom the ambulance was summoned 142 times in 2010.
Something needs to be done to find ways of treating these patients more effectively and with less cost to the taxpayer. For some people, the ambulance has become the health-care plan of last resort, and it simply wasn't intended — or budgeted — to perform that way. Many are among Honolulu's homeless population, which complicates the challenge of solving this problem.
All of them have medical problems, sometimes including alcoholism, mental illness or other conditions. These are people who need help, but certainly the ambulance and other emergency services is not the way to deliver it. The cost is roughly $800 per trip, and it ends up on the taxpayers' tab, with many of the most frequent users receiving government benefits under Medicare or Medicaid programs. And this doesn't even count the emergency-room costs for those who get hospital treatment as well.
That is not the way to deliver care. The failure is clear in the numbers: Someone who calls 911 91, 75, 50 or 40 times in a year — the tally for those rounding out the Top 5 in the list — is not finding a solution on this path.
The emergency department, fortunately, is moving to take the problem in hand. Dr. James Ireland, the agency's director, told Star-Advertiser writer Susan Essoyan that his staff is working on an outreach program, which, he said, "will not only help them but also save a lot of money."
A pilot program has a target start date of the end of October, in which critical information is collected on the top users. A working group of the state Interagency Council on Homelessness will be joining in with the outreach. Collaboration of this sort is exactly what is needed.
read … Just wait til the other shoe drops
Media Experts: Hawaii Shield Law Deters Subpoenas Of Journalists
CB: Reporters have only defended themselves with the 4-year-old shield law in a handful of cases. That's because for the most part, agencies are finding other ways of obtaining information for their cases, media experts said.
"It's been used more as a deterrent than anything," said Jeff Portnoy, a prominent First Amendment attorney in Honolulu. "But it's only a matter of time until some really important case comes down and the shield law will be front and center."
Portnoy said the law has been used a handful of times by media — a videographer from the Big Island, an anonymous blogger on Maui and an online news reporter on Oahu. But daily newspapers and TV outlets haven't needed to bring it into play yet.
Hawaii's shield law was enacted in 2008, but it is set to expire June 30 if lawmakers don't remove the sunset provision. Media outlets and First Amendment advocates are already gearing up for the next legislative session, which starts in January. Attorney General David Louie has indicated he would like to push through substantial changes to the law, including requiring reporters to turn over unpublished material and defining who should be protected.
read … Shield Law
Honolulu City Council Has Banned All Commercial Activity at All Parks
HNN: The city is holding a series of public meetings to create regulations for commercial activities at all of its parks. City attorneys decided that a new law aimed at businesses at Kailua beaches actually applies to commercial activities at nearly 300 Oahu parks. That means sports classes, wedding photography, and temporary food vendors are all technically illegal. Now the city is trying to come up with new rules and a permit system.
Before Bill 11 banned nearly all commercial activity at Kailua and Kalama Beach Parks, Bill 5 restricted the businesses on weekends. After the measure became law earlier this year, city lawyers found the measure actually has impacts across the island. (Oooops)
The remaining public hearings run from 5 to 7 p.m. at these locations:
- September 18: Waialua District Park (all parks from Makapuu to Mokuleia)
- September 19: Kaneohe District Park (all parks from Lanikai to Kaneohe)
- September 20: Waianae District Park (all parks from Ewa Beach to Keaau)
read … Socialist parks
Solar installations continue to rise
SA: Hawaii homeowners and businesses installed a record amount of solar power generating capacity in the second quarter of this year, according to a new industry report.
Hawaii added 16.6 megawatts of solar generating capacity during the April-to-June period, a 12 percent increase from 14.8 megawatts in the previous quarter, according to the report produced by the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research.
The report noted that there is a growing trend in Hawaii and elsewhere in which homeowners are opting to have solar systems installed with no upfront cost. Under the most popular arrangements, a third party owns the system and either leases it back to the homeowner or sells the electricity to the homeowner. In both cases, the homeowner pays the third party less than the rates charged by the local electric utility.
The third party usually raises the financing from investors, who are attracted to the tax benefits and steady stream of income that come from owning a stake in the solar systems. The financing vehicle has attracted more than $600 million in new investments in recent months, according to the report.
Although the report didn't have firm numbers for Hawaii, its researchers estimated that anywhere from 70 percent to 80 percent of the solar systems installed in the Aloha State are being done this way….
The 16.6 megawatts installed ranked Hawaii 10th among the top 25 states for the three-month period, according to the report. Of the 16.6 megawatts, 7.9 were installed at residences and 8.7 were at commercial buildings.
Although Hawaii trailed much larger states like California, Arizona and Texas on an absolute basis, it has traditionally compared more favorably on a per capita basis. Hawaii's 62.6 watts of installed PV per person in 2011 was third-highest of any state, according to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.
read …Looting the General Fund
HECO Loosens Solar Requirements for Interconnection
SA: Many homeowners and some small businesses installing solar photovoltaic systems will face fewer obstacles under new procedures announced by Hawaiian Electric Co.
The new rules that go into effect Oct. 1 will increase the number of smaller PV systems that can be hooked into the utility's electrical grids without requiring customers to conduct a costly study, according to HECO.
The changes apply to certain HECO customers in Honolulu, Maui and Hawaii counties with photovoltaic systems up to 10 kilowatts.
Under the old system, HECO would require a review of new net metering projects being installed on circuits in which the amount of solar generating capacity was 15 percent or more of peak load. If a further review showed that the PV penetration was 50 percent or more of the circuit's minimum daytime load, then HECO could require the owner to conduct an interconnection study.
Under the new system, HECO will continue to review projects that hit the 15 percent threshold. However, the second review would trigger a potential interconnection study only if the PV penetration was 75 percent or more of daytime minimum load.
read … 75% of Minimum
The more things change at UH, the more they don't
Borreca: Next week the top University of Hawaii leaders are scheduled to meet with state Sen. Donna Mercado Kim and members of her investigative committee to explain how UH fumbled away $200,000 for an athletic department fundraising Stevie Wonder concert.
To paraphrase the joke about computers, anyone can make mistakes with university programs, but to completely blow up an athletic department, you need the board of regents.
Today's concerns are about the fitness of the UH decisions: first to rush off into a fundraising scheme they knew little about, and then to suspend and rehire several of the principals. If it is any comfort, in the past UH could make a much bigger hash of it.
Back in 1974, the goal was not to get money for UH. It was a quest for legitimacy and a chance to finally stand as an equal among the big boys: Hawaii was to field a Division I football team.
In typical Hawaii style, everything started to devolve. Dave Holmes, then football coach with 47-17-1 record, suddenly quit.
read … The more things change at UH, the more they don't
Queens Takes Last Slap at Killing Patient
SA: The attorney for the family of a 95-year-old woman who fought efforts by the Queen's Medical Center to stop intravenously feeding her said the hospital administered a "last slap out the door" when she was discharged with an empty feeding tube.
Karen Okada left Queen's by ambulance Friday for a nursing home in Aiea with her feeding tube in place. But her doctor ordered Okada's fluids and feedings "stopped at the time of discharge," according to a copy of Okada's discharge papers provided to the Star-Advertiser.
"She was supposed to be transferred at 2 p.m., and then it became 3:30 p.m.," said attorney Scott Makuakane. "Queen's made it difficult for us on a Friday afternoon to then scramble to get somebody to give us the food to put in the tube. Was it intentional? I don't know. They've decided that it doesn't matter what the judge said, it doesn't matter what the documents said, it doesn't matter what Karen intended," Makuakane said. "They're going to do what they're going to do."
Otherwise, Makuakane said, "she's comfortable in the nursing home," which eventually fed her through the tube late Friday.
read … Last Slap
Going Back To School With Tulsi Gabbard
CB: State legislator, city councilor, U.S. Senate aide, war veteran, congressional nominee, media star.
Add "role model" to the latest titles for Tulsi Gabbard, the Democrat who is one election away from serving in Washington, D.C.
In her first Hawaii appearance since winning the primary and becoming a media darling at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., Gabbard shared her inspirational story with high school students at St. Andrew's Priory School in downtown Honolulu.
Reality: Tom Cruise is privileged in comparison to the average Scientologist. The Gabbards are privileged in comparison to the average member of the Chris Butler Cult.
read … Going Back To School With Tulsi Gabbard
One Man Serves on Boards of many Hawaii High Tech Companies
NR: Mr. Sherman has served on the Board of Directors of a number of for-profit companies, including CytoMed, Inc., Hawaii Biotech, Inc., IBAH, Inc.; Kenna Technologies, Inc., Mera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Sparta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Biophage, Inc. His non-profit and charitable activities have included services on the Boards of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Association, the Delaware Valley Chapter of the American Corporate Counsel Association (where he also served as President of the chapter), the American Music Theater Festival (also serving as President), The Sbarro Health Research Organization, the Hawaii Venture Capital Association, and the Hawaii Science and Technology Council. He has also served as a member of the investment advisory committee of the Ben Franklin Technology Center, the Executive Board of the START Technology Partnership, a consortium of Delaware Valley universities, The Technology Advisory Board for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Advisory Board of the University of Hawaii Medical School.
read … Sherman
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