LESTER CHANG - TGI Staff Writer
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HANAMA’ULU — Strengthening law enforcement, having public-school teachers get higher salaries, and providing ongoing training for teachers were subjects on the minds of residents who met with key members of the state House of Representatives at King Kaumuali’i Elementary School here Tuesday evening.

As part of the “Lawmakers Listen” series scheduled across the state, the legislators met with Kaua’i residents to prepare for legislation for the upcoming 2004 legislative session beginning next month. Between 40 and 50 residents attended the meeting.

Among the key Democratic leaders were state Rep. Roy M. Takumi, who heads the House Education Committee; Rep. Mark Takai, who chairs the Higher Education Committee; and Rep. Dwight Y. Takamine, who chairs the House Finance Committee.

Kaua’i state Reps. Ezra Kanoho, Bertha Kawakami and Hermina Morita also attended the meeting.

Morita said it was rare for the heads of the powerful House committees to gather at one location on Kaua’i.

“Living on Kaua’i, people don’t have the chance to meet with the five chairs (of the various committees). They shape the agenda of discussion,” said Morita, who heads the House Energy & Environmental Protection Committee.

Kanoho heads the House Water, Land Use & Hawaiian Affairs Committee, and Kawakami is vice chair of the Finance Committee and sits on the Human Services & Housing Committee.

Also attending were: Sherwood Hara, a board member of the state Department of Education representing Kaua’i and Ni’ihau; Kaua’i County Council Chair Kaipo Asing; Roy Nishida, the county’s anti-drug coordinator; Ronald M. Sakoda, Kaua’i’s field representative for U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai’i; Kaua’i Police Lt. Roy Asher; Amy Maeda, a retired top Kaua’i school district official; and Capt. Robert J. Connelly, commanding officer of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Mana.

Morita noted that a vacancy of 40 officers in the Kaua’i Police Department has most likely slowed the war on crime and drugs on Kaua’i. “This is one of the problems that have compounded the enforcement area,” Morita said.

While the police departments in Hawai’i are short-staffed because they have difficulty finding qualified applicants, peace officers should not violate the civil liberties of people, Morita also said.

South Shore resident Margy Parker said the war on crime and use of ice (crystal methamphetamine) and other drugs has to be expanded and strengthened by making criminal laws more punitive.

She said rehabilitation centers and programs to make people aware of the dangers of drugs are important tools to fight drug use with.

At the same time, laws have to be stiffened to discourage people from becoming repeat offenders whose activities hurt society, she added.

Tracy Murakami, an attorney and Kaua’i parent, told the state legislators she was on a mission to improve education on Kaua’i.

Murakami said she wanted her daughter to be taught by the best and most-qualified teachers. The best way to reach that goal is with higher salaries for them, she said.

One way to raise salaries is to increase the state income-tax revenues as opposed to past unsuccessful efforts to increase the general excise-tax revenues to pay for government expenditures, Murakami said.

The Senate approved a bill to increase the general-excise tax last year, but the House didn’t support it, hence the measure failed.

Takumi said he felt uncomfortable with the idea of the Legislature approving an increase in the general-excise-tax revenues only to have Gov. Lingle veto the legislation.

The action could be politically damaging to Hawai’i’s Democratic Party, and could help Hawai’i’s Republican Party, Takumi indicated.

But Murakami said should Lingle veto the Legislature’s bill to increase excise-tax revenues, the Legislature can easily override her veto.

Whether the funds come from increasing income-tax revenues or general-excise-tax revenue, they could be used to improve education in Hawai’i, Murakami indicated.

“I think it would be hypocritical for Governor Lingle to vote it down,” Murakami said after the meeting. “She ran with education as part of her platform, and she is going to veto the tax increase for education?”

Murakami also said higher salaries are needed to retain top teachers in Hawai’i, and to draw top teachers to the state.

The current situation of some teachers leaving for higher-paying jobs in the U.S. Mainland was “not acceptable to me,” Murakami said.

Pay raises for teachers are needed to support major reform of the state’s education system, Murakami said, adding, “I think we just need to pay them more.”

Danielle Lum, a spokeswoman for the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said annual teacher salaries range from $34,200 to $65,200.

“We wholeheartedly believe that it (any legislation to support salary increases for teachers) should happen,” she said.

Legislators said teacher salaries are set through collective bargaining, but Murakami said the Legislature still funds the salaries.

Takai also said the Legislature, working in conjunction with state Department of Education officials, thought they could attract top special-education teachers from the Mainland with high salaries and hefty benefits.

But the reality is that some of the teachers left, a predicament that has prompted the Legislature to study other ways to meet school demands, Takai said.

Takamine said the Legislature is committed to improving student performance, and has striven to help the University of Hawai’i and the DOE become the best they can be.

The operations of the two educational institutions account for 52 percent of the state’ budget, he said.

An audience member, Dr. Kani Blackwell, an educator for 37 years, said the money used to recruit Mainland teachers should be used instead to train people in Hawai’i to become teachers.

Blackwell is leading an informational meeting for an elementary-school and post-baccalaureate teacher education program at the Kaua’i Community College in Puhi from 10 a.m. to noon this Saturday, Dec. 13.

Takai said the Legislature wants to meet the academic needs of the people on Kaua’i, and has supported transferring numerous University of Hawai’i programs to the Puhi campus.

This way, people on the Neighbor Islands can get the learning experience of a four-year university without having to live on O’ahu, Takai said.

Takai also said the Legislature has to put “more money into incentive programs,” including ongoing training programs, to help teachers.

To help public school education further, Murakami also urged the Legislature to work with DOE officials to reduce class sizes.

The ratio for classes in Hawai’i is 27 students to one teacher, she said. Murakami favors a ratio of 20 students to one teacher.

Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.