More needs to be done
to fix teacher shortage
The teacher shortage is becoming a serious issue. Schools are struggling to find qualified educators, leading to larger class sizes and overwhelmed staff.
Many teachers leave due to low pay, burnout and lack of support, making it harder to retain talent.
Fixing this problem requires better pay, more resources and improved working conditions. Schools need stronger recruitment efforts and incentives to keep educators in the profession.
Without teachers, students — and the future of education — will suffer.
Scott Bancroft
Hilo
Feeling betrayed by
probate law firm
In Hilo, where “aloha”’ isn’t just a word but a way of life, I learned the hard way that compassion ends where probate begins.
After my mother’s death, the lawfirm handling probate for her estate mailed a final letter inviting me to contact them “if you have any questions.” So I did — sending an email only to update my address while I left for lifesaving surgery.
Their response? A $300 charge for the request, and silence. I’m not even sure if the change was made or even necessary.
I was doing the responsible thing. I was leaving town for 10 months and stopped delivery on all mail and didn’t want a check or any other documents going to a dead-end address. For a town that raised me, taught me and buried my mother, this wasn’t aloha — this was exploitation.
Hilo is where neighbors bring flowers to funerals, where strangers help carry caskets, where “ohana” means no one grieves alone. But the probate process? It’s a spreadsheet. A $300 charge for an email isn’t just a fee. It’s a betrayal of the values this community claims to hold.
I’m not the first. Ask any family who has lost a loved one in Hawaii: Probate firms nickel-and-dime estates with “incidentals” ($15,000 held back here, a $300 email there) while heirs are too grief-stricken, exhausted and afraid to fight back. Worse, executors — often siblings — get pitted against each other.
No one disputes that lawyers deserve pay. But $300 for an address change request? That’s not labor. That’s a toll.
And when the only way to avoid it is to never contact the firm — as their own letter invited — the system isn’t broken. It’s rigged.
Hilo — and Hawaii — can do better. Lawfirms can post fee schedules upfront. Legislators can cap exploitative “administrative’” charges. Executors can demand transparency. And families can refuse to let grief be monetized.
My mother loved this town. She believed in its values. But when I needed aloha the most, what I got was a bill.
If her legacy can help spare one family this cruelty, I’ll have done right by her — and by the Hilo that raised us both.
Philip Hayworth
Hilo
