Who does this hurt in the long run?

Normally I would chronicle my week here on the island.  Well, this week has been rough, at best.  I went last week to get my ear checked out.  Yes, I'm ashamed to admit that I've been having problems with it since January.  In any case, the drainage is back to green, indicating an infection.  So, I was prescribed Augmentin, the SUPER antibiotic.  And when I was say SUPER, I don't mean fantastic!  It is designed to kill, kill, kill the bacteria.  It kills my energy in the process.

In addition to antibiotics, I've been referred to the Ears, Nose and Throat specialist at Tripler Hospital (or the "pink" hospital as Annika calls it... since... it's painted pink.  Seriously).  I have an audiogram scheduled as well to determine the amount of hearing loss.  It's all scary to me at the moment, but I'm no stranger to ear troubles.  I grew up having tubes in/out and many ear infections.

That update is out of the way. :)  

Why the title for the blog?  On 23 September 2009, we received a letter for the State of Hawai'i Department of Education.  Apparently, Hawaii's public schools are facing unprecedented budget cuts totaling $468 million over two years (sy 09-10 and 10-11).  WHAT??  What happened to the money that was given to the state?  Oh... that's right, it was used to pay off debts.  Who suffers from this?  Certainly not the parents!  Not directly anyway, in my humble opinion.  This hurts the children immensely.  It saddens me. 

What does this mean?  Furlough Fridays.  Seventeen furlough Fridays to be exact.  During the furlough Fridays:
 *Athletic events and practices will continue as scheduled after 3:00 PM.

*After school tutoring and enrichment programs run by the school are cancelled.

*A+ will not be offered by the DOE.  Private providers may offer their own programs at parent expense on furlough days.

*No meal service.  No student transportation (SPED included) will be provided.

*Superintendent's leadership team (superintendent, deputy superintendent, assistant superintendents, and complex area superintendents) will also be on furlough.

I am outraged at the bold statements above.  We can continue athletic events but not tutoring and enrichment programs, meal service or transportation?  Who determines why?  And what exactly are we teaching our children?  That being athletic is more important that furthering and bettering your education/knowledge?  And this is part of the reason why I am not happy with the state of Hawaii's school system and why we thought long and hard about homeschooling.

My child's future is everything.  And I believe that she should have the best education possible.  I'm just sickened with this news.  Not just that, but disappointed.

A large price to pay for living in paradise.

A big mahalo for the continued reading support!

::Aloha!::