Rebutting the Rebuttal

On April 16, a letter to the Honolulu Advertiser that I wrote was printed.  I was accused of attacking Roy Takumi in a rebuttal written by Laraine Yasui (a Takumi supporter) in today's Sunday paper.  This is what she wrote:

CHARTER SCHOOLS

LACK OF PROCEDURAL CLARITY WORRISOME

Reed Shiraki's letter ("Charter schools cap should be removed," April 16), criticizing Rep. Roy Takumi's action on removing the cap on charter schools is off base. Shiraki claims that Hawai'i's chance for Race to the Top dollars was hurt by the cap. Unfortunately, he is wrong.

He should consider the application and the comments by the reviewers from the U.S. Department of Education. One wrote, "It is unclear how charter school authorizers approve, monitor, hold accountable, reauthorize, and close charter schools."

Another wrote that the approval process was "murky."As a retired public school teacher, I agree with these reviewers that it makes little sense to allow more charter schools to open until there is greater accountability and transparency.

Shiraki is running against Rep. Takumi in the upcoming election so it's understandable why he wants to attack him.

However, before doing so, Shiraki should do what I always told my students: do your homework and get your facts straight.

Laraine Yasui
Pearl City

This is what I wrote in response:

"Shiraki should do what I always told my students: do your homework and get your facts straight."

But, Ms. Yasui, I did do my homework! Honest!

Retired teacher Yasui also wrote, "Shiraki claims that Hawai'i's chance for Race to the Top dollars was hurt by the cap. Unfortunately, he is wrong."

Nope. This is straight from the Department of Education website: "States that do not have public charter laws or put artificial caps on the growth of charter schools will jeopardize their applications under the Race to the Top Fund," Secretary Duncan said.

Here's the link: http://www2.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/06/06082009a.html

In high school, I was always getting busted by my teachers (even when I didn't do anything wrong)... some things never change, I guess.

Comments

[J.Tom]

It's so disappointing that people would go so far as to down ,good, loyal, and honest people, like Dr.Reed Shiraki to the public via newspaper, t.v, internet etc., to make themselves or another look better....who's attacking who?
Sometimes people make mistakes, and I know Dr. Reed Shiraki has already forgiven Ms. Yasui, cause that's just the kind of person he is. Keep up the good work Dr. Reed Shiraki. We believe in you.

[C. Gatiuan]

I am a parent of children who are in a charter school. I do not agree with how schools are run and I wanted another option. Our teachers are hampered by unruly children, uncooperative parents, and must endure selfish, politically run leadership from the DOE. It also seems to me, that the main focus for teaching has become a cram to pass the HSA testing. Once the standards are met (or crammed for), there is not much time for deeper learning. That is like reading all about T.S. Elliot and not actually reading any of his works. To me, that is so very sad and feels like a cap on learning. You put a limit on anything and you hinder growth. Therefore, I chose a charter school for the education of my children.
Also, education money seems to actually reach the children in charter schools. I have never heard anything of that nature being spoken about public schools. That approach to the handling of the education money is very appealing to me.
The more options out there, the more incentive there will be for schools to keep their students. That in turn, will increase the quality of education from everywhere out there. Therefore, I also agree that the charter school cap should be removed. If doing so could have allowed $75 million to come to our state, why on earth would you go against it? Charter schools would still have to meet certain qualifications, so making charter schools prove they are better than public schools is not really an issue, as some would lead you to believe. Regardless of how many other charter schools that could pop up, all students would win in that scenario.
I am glad that Dr. Reed Shiraki will courageously work to change the problems in education here in our beautiful Hawaii. He has my vote. If not, what do we have to look forward to? We have the old guys who brought us "Furlough Fridays" and said “no” to removing an educational cap that effectively stopped additional funding for education to come to Hawaii. It is time that we raise the level of education here. Charter schools can bring in some competition forcing the education bar to rise. Let’s face it; something is so wrong here when we, as part of one of the most powerful countries in the world, have something called "Furlough Fridays" associated with education thinking that this is the answer to fix the money problems.