Teachers deserve better pay, too
Our firefighters’ salary ranges from $79,728-$109,140. Our teachers salaries range from $41,000 to an average of $54,000. Our teachers are responsible for 35-120 students each day. Nor is it possible to complete the job in the normal workday of eight hours, so every teacher works nightly and weekends to stay on top of the work. They do not leave the job behind at the end of their shift.
This is not a criticism of the salaries of our firefighters. It is criticism of our priorities. Teachers directly shape hundreds of our children and their future. Teachers are the single professionals who interact with our children each and every day and yet we pay them less than half of what we pay our other professional protectors. When are we going to start valuing those who have the most effect on our children?
Joyce Oconnor
Waimea
Fun with numbers
As a retired engineer, I am continually amused by the numbers our elected officials constantly throw around. To whit: The Republican tax “relief” plan will increase the national budget deficit by $1.5 trillion. OK. Crunching the numbers yields the following: If this money were instead distributed evenly to every man, woman, and child in the U.S., we would each receive $4,615.38 or $18,461.54 for a family of four. If this money were, in fact, given to the people, the economic stimulus would be far greater than anything the genii in Washington could come up with.
To whit: A ride on a Big Island bus is $2, but costs $11.77. Guess who makes up the difference?
To whit: If every man, woman, and child on Oahu were to ride Mayor Caldwell’s light rail line once a week for the next five years, it would only cost $39.23 per ride. Hmmm.
Alan Gemer
Kailua-Kona
A different take on the psychiatric hospital escapee
Congratulations should be in order for Randall Saito, the supposedly insane psychiatric hospital patient who escaped. He was able to take a taxi to the airport, then take a chartered flight to Maui and then take a 5-hour flight to San Jose, California, all before anyone missed him. How was this possible, where did he get the money? He obviously knew what he was doing. He was probably smarter at pulling off this shenanigan than the hospital employees, judge and people responsible for putting him into the hospital.
Michael J. Hunt
Captain Cook
No letters worth printing?
My guess is that someone will disagree with this letter, but just the same someone should say something. I think it is important to provide a community forum for people to voice their opinions and concerns. I also think that the editor has a responsibility to use good judgment when deciding which opinions to print.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion unless it is to degrade or denigrate someone because of their opinion. The forum has been poorly managed in that regard by the newspaper and it has become unnecessarily divisive. One has to wonder, are there no other letters to the editor worth printing?
Randy Douglas
Waimea