dropouts left behind

In 2004-05, the latest year for which Department of Education statistics are available, some schools had [dropout] rates almost twice the state average. In many, the rate has been growing.

The highest in the state was Wai'anae High, with a dropout rate of 29.2 percent. That means nearly three of every 10 students who started ninth grade together four years earlier left school without graduating.

Close behind were McKinley High and Nanakuli High and Intermediate, with respective dropout rates of 26.5 percent and 26.6 percent, followed by Farrington High at 22.6 percent.

The social cost is heavy. These young people may be doomed to low-paying jobs or menial labor, and may never have the earning power to support a family or the training to contribute what they might have to society. They're also more likely to be the ones involved with drugs, unwedded pregnancy, gangs and criminal activity.

A survey of 716 male inmates of the 1,003 men incarcerated at Halawa Medium Security Correctional Facility in 2005 showed that 35.8 percent did not have high school diplomas, according to a spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Iraq's unity government takes office

BAGHDAD, Iraq – After five months of often bitter wrangling over Cabinet posts, Iraq's unity government took office Saturday (May 20) and vowed to fight the insurgency, restore stability and set the stage for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign troops.

The new permanent government resulting from December's elections in which 12 million Iraqis participated has been portrayed by Western officials as the best hope for changing the dynamics of violence in Iraq. But it must expand control and persuade insurgents, assassins and militias to stand down, with no guarantee of success.

Puerto Rico out of money

Puerto Rico's government shut down Monday after the U.S. commonwealth ran out of money to pay 100,000 public employees, temporarily throwing them out of work.

About 500,000 students are out of school as the shutdown left 40,000 teachers idle. Forty-three government agencies and all 1,600 public schools on the island were closed.

The closure comes after the legislature and the governor failed to reach a last-minute deal to address the government's $740-million budget shortfall. The legislature and the governor have been unable to agree on a budget since 2004 and debts continue to pile up.

Congress advised to reject Akaka bill

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recommended yesterday that Congress reject a bill granting federal recognition and self-government rights to Hawaiians.

The action was a blow to supporters of the controversial bill, which was introduced six years ago by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, and other members of the Hawai'i delegation.

Akaka said in a written statement that his goal is still to have the bill heard on the Senate floor.