UH is not the only school with legitimate complaints, but it is the most deserving of voicing its objections.

SPECIAL NEEDS

PLACE THE BURDEN ON THE SCHOOL SYSTEM

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling places the burden of proof on parents in an administrative due process hearing. Hawai'i shouldn't celebrate this ruling, knowing the inadequacies of special education in this state. The federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has always upheld the practice of placing the burden of proof on the Department of Education, and not parents.

Research shows that parents who work toward meeting their child's unique learning needs produce positive outcomes. Hawai'i needs to preserve and protect our cultural, historical and educational heritage for the benefit of our special-needs children and their families.

With the legacy of the Felix consent decree, we cannot move education backward to the disadvantage of children. This shift will produce a clear challenge and distinct disadvantage to our special-needs children and their families, unless we work together in calling for a return of the burden of proof onto the DOE.

Hawai'i may wish to follow the examples of states that traditionally place the burden on the school system and that are drafting regulations to conform to that practice.

RABID FANS

HAWAI'I BOWL WITHOUT WARRIORS HAS NO DRAW

It is unfortunate that the University of Hawai'i football team is having an off-year. Without UH participating in the upcoming Hawai'i Bowl, the hardcore local sports fans will not show up. With the high cost of tickets, parking, etc., there is no draw for the Hawai'i fans to turn out to watch mediocre teams play. They can watch on TV.

Plain and simple, if UH plays in this game and it wins during the regular season, you will not have to worry about attendance; the fans will come. If UH continues to lose and the new no-drinking tailgating rules are enforced next year, there really will be a problem in attendance.

HANDOUTS

TAX CUTS HELP NABOBS BUY INTO DEVELOPMENT

The proposed land deal in Waimea Valley exposes one of the dark sides of Reaganomics.

The City & County can't afford to buy the land, while prosperous individuals have plenty of money for luxury homes on large tracts of secluded land.

Thus, tax cuts for the excessively wealthy is really a kind of land-shift program in which land that could have been set aside for the benefit of the common people becomes land that is developed for the exclusive and private enjoyment of a handful of invisible nabobs.

OUTDOOR CIRCLE

PUBLIC WALL SPACE ADS RESULT IN DONATION

Regarding Jacqueline Ralya's Nov. 26 letter in which she said, "Shame, shame on the city and state for even thinking of selling wall space on public structures": Shame is the same word I used in writing to Mayor Hannemann and Scott Ishikawa of the state Department of Transportation on the subject.

Shame for this desecration of Hawai'i nei simply for a quick money grab.

Then I sent a check to The Outdoor Circle to help it fight this visual ruination.

KAILUA NEEDS LOW-RISE HOTEL TO ACCOMMODATE VISITORS

Magazines through the years have touted Kailua Beach as one of the most beautiful beaches, not only in the country, but in the world. Tourists travel thousands of miles from many countries to see, enjoy and experience this sandy wonder.

But since Kailua provides little or no housing for tourists, these visitors must add to the already congested traffic conditions in this small community in order to reach the Windward side.

Kane'ohe Ranch has done so many wonderful things for this community. But the greatest contribution this company could do for Kailua would be to scrape away the unsightly, dilapidated apartment buildings (across from the park on Kailua Road) and erect in their place a small, low-rise charming hotel. That is what Kailua really needs (and has needed for many years)! But since the planning gods (who apparently feel it their duty to protect the Waikiki hotel industry) have not seen fit to zone for such, the next best thing are bed and breakfasts.

I live just a few blocks from several residences that I know are B&Bs and several more that I suspect are. I walk and drive by them several times at different hours of the day. I have not seen any traffic congestion caused by the comings and goings in these small businesses. In fact, I have never seen a single car enter or leave any one of them.

What I see are Japanese honeymooners holding hands with their heads shyly lowered, senior couples (also holding hands) with their legs and heads bright from the sun, and groups of teenagers from various nations, giggling and chasing each other around the ironwood trees. All headed, on foot, to Kailua Beach.

Shame on the officials who are penalizing individuals who are trying to provide a service that planning officials have refused to provide — and even more shame on the vicious and vindictive neighbors who are acting as their stooges.

DECENTRALIZATION

DOE, BOE ARE THWARTING ACT 51

Kudos to The Advertiser for encouraging public debate about how to improve public education through its "Voices of Education" series.

And thanks to Robert Witt for raising crucial issues in the latest installment of the series (Nov. 27), even though some of my opinions differ from his.

Mr. Witt expresses the hope that Act 51 will decentralize Hawai'i's public education system. His support of decentralization is admirable because it can establish the foundation for education reform in Hawai'i. Unfortunately, very little of that hope is justified by a close reading of Act 51.

Act 51 claims to be a vehicle for decentralization, and it contains such phrases as "reducing bureaucracy," "empowering principals" and "community involvement."

However, grandiose words alone are insufficient to effect change, and Act 51 fails to create the mechanisms necessary to achieve those worthy objectives. To make things worse, Department of Education administration and the Board of Education have thwarted decentralization efforts.

For example, Act 51 creates a council at each school that includes representatives of the various elements of the school community, including the principal, teachers and parents of students enrolled in the school. Each council is comprised of the right mix of people who would be able to set a meaningful vision for the school and establish policies to achieve that vision.

However, Act 51 fails to give the councils any decision-making authority. At most, the councils are allowed to make recommendations. The bureaucrats in the central office of the DOE will continue to make the decisions.

Act 51 also creates the weighted student formula to fairly distribute funds appropriated for public education to the individual schools.

Each school principal is given the power to expend those funds. Prior to Act 51, most of the expenditure decisions were made by the bureaucrats.

When Act 51 was being considered as a bill, the Legislature was informed that the bill should be amended to give principals explicit discretionary authority so they could decide how to spend the funds rather than give them a vague power to "expend" the funds. But the Legislature failed to close that loophole.

The DOE administration used the loophole to block decentralization.

As was foreseen, principals will technically be allowed to expend the funds, but they will be required to expend most of the money according to decisions made by the bureaucrats. Principals will have no more discretion over expending funds than they had before.

The BOE went even further to stop decentralization by deciding to only partially implement the weighted student formula. The BOE found out that the formula would cause some schools to receive considerably less money than before (although other schools would receive more). So instead of fully implementing the formula, as required by Act 51, the BOE will implement only one-tenth of it in the first year. The effects of this partial implementation will be negligible.

The BOE and the DOE administration have demonstrated by their actions that they oppose decentralization. Any realistic decentralization plan must remove them from the picture. The plan must also create the necessary mechanisms to give more power to school communities so they can set their visions for educational excellence and develop the policies necessary to achieve them.