Sacrificing school librarians hurts future
I am very concerned that so few of us realize that one of our island’s most valuable crops is at risk.
This is not the time to turn our backs on our school librarians who nurture our youngest learners’ curiosity and guide our high schoolers to master the methods of exploration that can one day benefit us all.
How can we possibly close the door on the professionals who share the most effective ways to help our students dig deeper and navigate their way to future discoveries? Who else is trained to encourage and stimulate our students to look harder and more wisely to find new solutions?
No doubt, difficult choices have to be made so that our stretched school budgets can provide the best results for everyone. I believe that sacrificing our school librarians will hurt our community in the long run.
Pamela Gilbert-Bugbee
Kailua-Kona
Instead of raising GET — cut spending
OK, today my respect for Mayor Billy Kenoi — as well as any other mayor who is pushing this flimflam— has reached the bottom of the barrel. I have voted for the man and had great respect for him even considering he is a Democrat.
In today’s paper “County Council GETs the topic” was a slap in the face to every taxpayer in Hawaii. Do the mayors of our various islands think taxpayers are stupid? Adding a “surcharge” to a tax is still a tax, no matter what you want to call it. Lipstick on a pig doesn’t change the fact that a pig is a pig.
If there is one, just one, taxpayer that thinks there is a politician in our country that just wants the authority to add a 1 percent addition to our tax burden — “just in case” and won’t quickly find an excuse to use it sooner rather than later then I have some oceanfront property in Kingman, Ariz., that I will sell you for a reasonable fee.
If our mayors want to do something to help our islands, figure out how to bring businesses to our beautiful state and quit abusing those of us who are paying for the social programs here.
It seems if you are a Democrat, all you can think about is who to tax and how much more you can tax them before they’ve had enough. Try something new — cut spending.
Frank Dickinson
Kailua-Kona