DoE/HSTA hacks threaten to lay off 2,500 and chop after-school programs if furloughs are eliminated
The Hawaii State Teachers Association and state negotiators last week were unable to reach agreement on how to restore furlough days, mainly because union and Department of Education officials say they are worried that Gov. Linda Lingle's plan, by their tally, was $19.3 million short of what it would cost to restore 27 furlough days. That's even if teachers were to swap their planning days, without additional pay, as the governor has suggested.
They worry that restoring furlough days, and the $19 million shortage, would result in layoffs of 2,500 full-time employees, an increase in class sizes and elimination of school programs and a partridge in a pear tree....
(Of course any simpleton knows that the DoE is absolutely incapable of calculating these numbers. They are made up from thin air as Randy Roth has clearly explained....
...they have only a vague notion of what it costs to educate a student in a particular school, or how much of the operating budget actually gets to the classroom as opposed to being consumed by the bureaucracy. In other words, the DOE itself is in the dark....
RELATED: Smith: HSTA seeks to limit after-school programs , HSTA playbook copied: NY Teachers unions also sabotage efforts to win "Race to the Top" dollars , HSTA using furloughs to keep “Race to the Top” dollars—and reform--out of Hawaii schools
Randall Roth: In Hawaii Education, The Buck Stops Nowhere
Randall Roth dissects Hawaii's failed Department of Education
Roth's full 45 page analysis: http://www.hsblinks.com/mu
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SB: Akaka Bill needs airing (demands public hearings)
Sen. Daniel Akaka surprised observers of the Hawaiian sovereignty bill bearing his name by injecting controversial changes that drew opposition from Gov. Linda Lingle, a longtime supporter of the bill. The congressional delegation needs to conduct hearings during the present holiday recess to clear the air and, if it can, justify the bill's changes.
Bennett, who received the changes on the eve of the House committee action from Republican committee staffers, also noted that the newly-changed Senate bill has a new term -- "Qualified Native Hawaiian Constituent" -- defined in six pages of the bill. No public hearings on that term have ever been conducted....
Akaka says he talked with Lingle and Bennett prior to the Senate committee action and is "committed to working with them on these issues as we move forward." That is not enough. Akaka and other members of the delegation should heed Bennett's call for "a public hearing, with testimony" on the new Akaka Bill.
Explained: Akaka Bill: More than 73% of Hawaiians not "Qualified" for membership in Akaka Tribe , Akaka Bill Preview: Tribes Boot Members Keep Loot
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Thousands of island residents will collect important census info
Hawaii residents are traditionally reluctant to respond to questionnaires mailed out by the U.S. Census Bureau. In the last census in 2000, just 60 percent of Hawaii residents returned those forms, the third lowest rate in the country, Yoza said. Only Louisiana at 58 percent and Alaska at 56 percent had less participation. The most cooperative state was Iowa with 76 percent.
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Interisland shipping monopoly
The Jones Act is not enough, Rick Daysog thinks the PUIC should declare interisland shipping to be a "natural monopoly" like telephone and electric service, thus forever protecting Young Bros. against Pasha or other shipping competitors....
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Hawaii County Council violated Sunshine statute (consequences zero)
The OIP opinion, however, concluded that the council members' actions were not willful and the council members tried to make up for their actions by admitting to them in a public meeting.
"OIP believes that the involvement of a majority of council members in the serial discussion occurred because the members were not mindful of the possibility of serial communications, rather than because of a deliberate strategy to circumvent the Sunshine Law's requirements," Brooks said.
Ashida said Friday that he's said all along that if there was a violation, it was inadvertent.
"As far as I'm concerned, the matter is over," Ashida said. "The council can move on."
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Book by Obama's late mom released
Dewey said the book is Dunham's "legacy that remains relevant today for anthropology, Indonesian studies and engaged scholarship." By the time Dunham had finished writing the dissertation, she intended to publish it but her early death from cancer ended that plan.
At the end of the book, Dunham analyzed government programs and "what is good, what is bad, what should be done, what should be changed."
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5-girl robotics team shines
About 1,000 people, many of them very smart kids, jammed into the Blaisdell Arena yesterday for the annual FIRST LEGO League "Smart Move" state championship.
When 48 teams from all over the state are competing in project presentation, robot performance, technical design and teamwork, everybody searches for an edge in the brainiac fest celebrating inspiration and recognition of science and technology.
RELATED: Smith: HSTA seeks to limit after-school programs
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KGI: Coco Palms a monstrosity
There has been idle talk of turning the Coco Palms property — leveled to its embarrassing, derelict state nearly two decades ago by Hurricane ‘Iniki — into a park and cultural center as a way to preserve the heritage of the coconut grove, the fishpond (already recognized on the National Register of Historic Places) and the hotel site itself, once a vacation home to visiting royalty from Hawai‘i and Hollywood.
Last week, a fire — possibly started by squatters trying to stay warm — torched the retail annex at the property’s north end.
(The logical result of 20 years of socialism. A monument to the leadership of failed former Mayor and successful anti-Superferry protester Joanne Yukimura.)
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Police promotion rigging Lawsuit was the costliest in Hawaii County history
Maui News poll 51% reject Tavares reelection
Mayor Charmaine Tavares has announced that she will seek re-election in 2010. Will you vote for her?
- Yes 37%
- No 51%
- Haven't decided yet 9%
- Won't be voting for anyone 3%
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