Message from the President

Message from the President Dear Colleagues, It was wonderful to see and meet so many of you during institute week. One of the items I shared during institute was HSTA’s campaign to give our keiki the schools they deserve. One aspect of that campaign is to focus on the current conditions of our schools. DOE asks for $534 million for schools repairs, heat abatement Hawaii News Now 10/22/15 In Hawaii the average age of our schools is over 65 years old and Hawaii is last in the in the nation with regards to capital improvement money per student per year. Hawaii spends on average about $300 per pupil on capital improvement whereas the mainland averages $1,200 to $1,500. This neglect has caused our buildings to deteriorate and even led to the collapse of Farrington’s auditorium. This problem is systemic, and affects schools across our state. Recently I visited a local high school and saw pillars with metal rust sticking out, students whose weight room was so small that they had to lift weights outside, and classrooms with a variety of different chairs. If we wish to give our keiki the facilities that they need we first need to inform the public of our current conditions. To do this HSTA needs to know what is happening at your school. Could you send in pictures of the state of your buildings and the condition of your classrooms to info@hsta.org? We can use these pictures to highlight our keiki’s learning conditions and to bring change to our schools. Sincerely, Corey Rosenlee President Show support for education and our unity by wearing your red shirts on Tuesdays. Mahalo Webling Elementary School Teachers! Talking About Ethnicity and Inequality in Education  November 7, 2015 8:30 a.m. Check-In 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. University of Hawaii Campus Center  PLEASE RSVP HERE to receive information about $5.00 registration process. Share this opportunity with a colleague HERE>>>

Member Services Survey; data to be collected until Nov. 13, 2015

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In 2014, the Member Services Committee conducted a survey of our HSTA members and the following categories were identified as high priority:  Professional Development Finance and Retirement Health and Wellness Communication to members Discounts As a result: The professional development program increased and expanded, to include classes offered on all islands.  A new contract was negotiated with our National Educators Association (NEA) Member Benefits program to increase the number of group insurance offers and discount benefits for members. Various chapters scheduled pre-retirement workshops throughout the year.  We worked closely with the HSTA VEBA Trust to communicate the group plan benefits to members.  In order to continue to improve our member services program and provide members with services they value, we are once again asking for your input. Click the link below to begin survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2015MemberService This survey should take about ten minutes and we thank you in advance for your time. Survey data will be collected until November 13, 2015.  Results will be available on November 23, 2015.  2015-16 MEMBERSHIP SERVICES COMMITTEE MEMBERS Teachers from every chapter voluntarily serve on the HSTA Member Services Committee.  ~Mahalo! Gayle Enriquez Chair Laurie Sogawa Central Debbie A. G. Young Hamakua Debra Borges Hilo Kathleen Shiramizu Honolulu Shaun Redd Kauai Vacant Kohala Laurel Clay Kona Adam Beckwith Lanai Sonia Peralta Leeward Shannon Kealoha-Kaia Maui Pualani Akaka Molokai Kay Krochler Windward Yvonne Linda Tavares HSTA-R AhLinn Yamane HSTA Member Specialist EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS: Corey Rosenlee HSTA President Justin Hughey HSTA Vice President Wilbert Holck Executive Director

HSTA:  United in the pursuit of excellence for Hawaii’s public schools. Copyright © 2015 Hawaii State Teachers Association, All rights reserved. Mahalo for your engagement. Our mailing address is: Hawaii State Teachers Association 1200 Ala Kapuna Street Honolulu, HI 96819

Problems using Survey Monkey re: $2000 Lumpsum Payout

Hi SLLs and Certificated Staff:

Some teachers reported problems with the Survey Monkey link re: the $2000 Lumpsum Payout. 

I checked with Rae Yamanaka and her respone (via email instructions) are noted below:

Joy,

There were some problems with the link, teachers may have to copy and paste the address into their internet browser.  Please be sure that all teachers who qualify but did not receive the bonus fill out the survey before Nov. 4^th.  An HSTA staff member will be getting in touch with them.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HSTAlumpsum

thanks,

rae

Rae A. Yamanaka

HSTA Hilo UniServ Director

101 Aupuni St., Ste.219

Hilo, HI  96720

Phone:  808-935-9301; Fax 808-969-7492

Work cell phone:  808-365-6979

Email: ryamanaka@hsta.org

The greatest honor of a man is in doing good to his fellow men, not in destroying them.

$2000 Lumpsum Payment

In today’s paycheck (October 5, 2015), eligible teachers should have received the $2,000 lump sum as part of the supplemental agreement reached on April 22, 2015.  Eligible teachers are defined as “all active full time licensed teachers who have completed probation or began serving probation prior to July 1, 2013.”  Eligible half-time teachers shall receive $1,000 lump sum. We have had a number of inquiries from teachers regarding the $2000 lump sum and would like to provide the following FAQs:   Q1: How do I know if I got paid the lump sum?   A:  Check your October 5th pay stub, it should be a separate line item.  It will list your regular pay and then a second line of pay for your $2000.   Most teachers are on intercession and will not have access to their pay stub until they return to school or go by their school to pick up.   The alternate way to find out the net difference is to compare the direct deposit on September 20th vs was deposited on October 5th.      Q2: Do I have to pay taxes on the $2000 Lump Sum and does it count towards my retirement? A:This was addressed at the time we announced the negotiated settlement. Here are the two FAQs from last spring. 8Q: Does this lump sum payment of $2000 count towards my “high three” calculation for retirement and will it be taxed? 8A: The lump sum payment will be taxed, you can’t get away from paying taxes. Those hired after June 30, 2012 cannot use lump sum payments in the calculations for retirement. Therefore, if you were hired before July 1, 2012, then yes it will count.  More information can be found in this link on the State Employee Retirement Web site: http://ers.ehawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Acts-152-153-Memo-to-Employers-07-02-12.pdf You can read the entire FAQ document from last spring here:  http://eepurl.com/bkWyOz      Q3: How much (net) can a teacher expect to actually receive for the lump sum? A: The net amount received for the lump sum is different for every person, we are unable to give a specific amount, as a variety of things impact an individual’s tax bracket including pre-tax deductions and state/federal withholdings.  Because you are receiving more money than usual, you will likely have more money withheld than usual.  Depending on your income and tax rate, you may actually get back some of the additional withheld money in the form of a tax refund when you file your taxes.   Q4: What about charter teachers? A: Charter teachers should have the same contractual language applied to them as DOE teachers which is defined as “all active full time licensed teachers who have completed probation or began serving probation prior to July 1, 2013.” It should be noted that the DOE and Charter School Commission recently informed HSTA that there was some confusion in implementing this provision for public charter school teachers.  Thus, some teachers may see a delay in the payment of the lump sum. If you have questions, contact your UniServ Director. Q5: What if I believe I should have received the $2000 lump sum and did not? A: The DOE has informed HSTA that it does not intend to pay the $2,000 lump sum to teachers on Leave Without Pay (LWOP) as of October 5, 2015 and to teachers that received a less than effective evaluation rating for SY 2014-15. We may not know DOE’s final decision until the October 5th pay date, which occurs during fall break. HSTA believes that all full time tenured teachers should be eligible for the $2,000 lump sum payment, regardless of leave status or performance evaluation rating. HSTA expects to file a class grievance on behalf of any teacher denied the payment. If you did not receive the $2,000 lump sum on your October 5, 2015 paycheck, and believe you were wrongfully denied the payment, you must inform HSTA no later than November 2, 2015.  Please go to this linkhttps://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HSTAlumpsum and complete a short questionnaire to help determine if a claim can be filed on your behalf. Upon completion of the form an HSTA staff person will follow up with you for next steps.

Update on Air Conditioning Plan

Our teaching and learning environment has been in the news lately.  Here's what HSTA is doing to lead the way on heat abatement. View this email in your browser

Aloha Colleagues, Our active involvement in issues such as standardized testing and school funding helps improve our students’ lives, public education, and our profession. Since I started as president, not a day has gone by that HSTA has not been out fighting for our members. As we heard on our listening tour, teachers are confronted with many issues.  However, some of those issues that we are faced with have been more visible and in the news, such as the Ethics Commission’s advisory opinion on student travel, and air conditioning. The heat in our classrooms is putting the health and safety of our members and students in jeopardy. HSTA knew there was no time to wait and see whether our legislators could fund the Department of Education’s $1.7 billion plan.  Instead, HSTA came up with our own plan.  We shared this with you in an email on September 1, and immediately set out to meet with decision-makers.   This problem has festered for decades, but in the last two months we have made more progress in moving towards a plan to cool our hot classrooms than anyone has made in the past.    Since we started talking with the Department of Education, their approach has been to treat overheated classrooms like a crisis.  As a result:   The DOE started the survey of classrooms that we asked for. The DOE expedited purchase of 1,000 portable air conditioning units to provide immediate relief to some of our hottest classrooms.                     Read: Hawaii schools get more air conditioners in record hot year  The DOE asked Governor Ige to divert $20 million for heat abatement measures.   The DOE started to explore some of our on-the-grid and off-the grid solutions andalternatives.                  Read:   Solar, off-grid air conditioning provides self-contained alternatives                   See: Ka Hei Power Hybrid Approach - 16 minutes in In some situations, HSTA is suggesting that the DOE use solar air conditioning instead. The DOE is already experimenting with an on-the-grid air conditioning system at Waianae Highand I spoke with Keleiopuu Elementary School to find out more about the alternative solutions that they are considering for their school. In a Board of Education meeting last month, BOE members encouraged HSTA to continue leading our talks with the DOE and the community to work toward solutions we have proposed in our plan.  A copy of our plan is available on line, or listen to my interview on Hawaii Public Radio HERE>>>                 Read:  Students need relief now from hot classrooms               Read: Fund to cool classrooms gets $25,000 boost We’ve made great steps forward and we’re not stopping here.  This month, we set up a meeting with the DOE, solar companies, businesses, and community leaders to come up with long term solutions to deal with our changing climate and environmental shifts. HSTA’s vision is:  United in the pursuit of excellence for Hawaii’s public schools.  We are a union made up of teachers who join together to make our voices heard on issues that affect all of us and the students we teach. Our teaching conditions are our students’ learning conditions.   I want to thank all the members who came out to share their experiences with air conditioning and other important issues during the listening tour and those who have emailed me.  Most of all, thanks for all you do every day in your classrooms. Our next Association meetings for all BU 05 members are scheduled for October 12-16, 2015.  A schedule and agendas for each island can be found at http://tinyurl.com/2015HSTAInstituteDay. Sincerely,  Corey Rosenlee, President

School Calendar Updates

Your voice is important.  Thank you for participating in this member survey. View this email in your browser --> A Message from the President OCTOBER 3, 2015   --> Aloha Colleagues, I would like to thank the over 3000 of you who have taken the time to respond to our calendar survey and have left almost 5000 thoughtful and passionate comments about the structure of the school calendar.  I have heard your genuine concerns regarding the unsafe heat conditions that many of you continue to endure with your students.  I have also heard your need for breaks throughout the year to relieve stress, to participate in professional development, and to get personal business done that doesn’t require leaving your students in the hands of substitutes.  Each and every member has their own unique view on how best to structure the school calendar. On October 6th, the DOE will present to the Board of Education’s Student Achievement Committee their calendar proposals for the next three years. That committee will then make a recommendation to the full Board of Education for action at their General Business Meeting on October 20th. As your union leader, it is my job to advocate for our shared interests, but this is difficult to do when there is no consensus amongst our members.  One belief we do have in common, as 71% of you expressed in the survey, is the desire to retain Fall Break.  Fortunately, the DOE now agrees and has maintained the one-week Fall Break in their proposals.  The more difficult question is whether to advocate for a two- or three-week Winter Break.  Those who responded to the survey are split practically right down the middle.  In the end, the best solution is to compromise and advocate for a Winter Break that is between two and three weeks long. The most passionate responses had to do with starting the school year in September.  Many of you validly feel that school should not be held during one of the hottest months of the year (August) and should be more aligned to schools on the mainland which start later.  On the other hand, we know that teachers are not very well paid and many of you have to live paycheck to paycheck and work second and third jobs just to get by.  I wanted to be upfront with you in the survey by letting you know the impact a later start date would have on the pay cycle.  Right now, most teachers are paid starting on August 20th of the current year through to August 5th of the next year.  Starting school in September would delay the start of the new cycle, likely to September 20th.  This would result in most of you having to go without a paycheck on August 20th and September 5th.  I know that for many of you this would be too heavy a burden to bear. As a whole, we are faced with the difficult decision between having you teach in hot classrooms or having you go without pay for an extended period.  Neither of those are pleasant choices.  Over 70% of respondents to the survey said that the school calendar should not be used as a heat abatement strategy.  The reality is that teachers and students should have air conditioning for hot classrooms regardless of when the school year starts and ends and HSTA is working on your behalf to make that happen. Read:  AC Plan Update I encourage you to submit testimony to the Board of Education, which is holding meetings on October 6th and 20th.  The HSTA will also be at the Board of Education meetings to share our concerns, results of the survey and our own ideas to improve the proposed calendars. Please note that the October 20th Board of Education meeting will begin at 5:00 pm so that more of the community can participate. I hope to see you there and thank you again for providing valuable feedback through the survey. Corey Rosenlee HSTA President Resource links from this message: Link to Survey Results Link to BOE Agenda Link to DOE Proposed Calendars Link to submit testimony to the BOE   --> MEMBER REMINDERS --> 2015 Teacher Institute A day of Association information, professional development, and more.  For all BU 05 teachers.  See your schedule and details HERE>>> EES FAQs Read the DOE EES Clarification Memo on IPDP HERE>>>   --> ERS BOARD TRUSTEE ELECTION Teacher Logan T. Okita is HSTA's nominee.  Voted ballots must be postmarked by October 21, 2015.  Read more HERE>>> --> HSTA:  United in the pursuit of excellence for Hawaii’s public schools.

HSTA Hilo Chapter Updates (Email from Rae Yamanaka)

THIS MESSAGE IS GOING OUT TO ALL TEACHERS ON MY DISTRIBUTION LIST.  PLEASE FORWARD TO OTHERS WHO HAVE NOT RECEIVED IT.

Hi all,

We are winding down on the first quarter and I wanted to remind you about some activities and issues that are coming up.

1.       CELEBRATION OF LABOR:  Sat. Oct. 3^rd at Pepeekeo Community Center from 10-2pm.  All labor unions on the Big Island and their families are invited.  See attached flyer.  HSTA will be sponsoring a keiki games booth.

2.       INSTITUTE:  Wednesday, Oct. 14^th at Keaau High.  This is a negotiated paid work day that is to be used for union activities.  All teachers should be reporting to Keaau High instead of their respective schools.  Registration begins at 7:15am, breakfast will be served from 7:30am,   General session begins at 8:45am with State President Corey Rosenlee and NEA President Lily Eskelsen-Garcia, Workshops and Exhibits begin at 10am, Open University is at 1pm.  CANNED GOODS AND OTHER NON PERISHABLES WILL BE COLLECTED AT REGISTRATION FOR THE AFL-CIO FOOD PANTRY FOR UNION MEMBERS.  Teachers may also attend the Kona Institute being held at Kealakehe High if they are on the West side.  They just sign in under Hilo chapter.   See you all there!

3.       $2000 LUMP SUM BONUS:  If you are a tenured teacher hired before July 1, 2013, you should be receiving the $2000 lump sum bonus in your Oct. 5^th paycheck.  This applies to all BU5 teachers including charter school teachers.  If you do not receive the bonus in your Oct. 5^th paycheck, please contact Rae ASAP.

4.       CONTACT INFORMATION:  Please note that my contact information is listed below and I do have a new work cell phone number.

5.       MEMBERSHIP SERVICES SURVEY:  Please log on and take the membership services survey to see how HSTA can support your needs.  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2015MemberService

6.       PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:  see attached flyer for professional development classes that can be used for reclassification.

Have a wonderful and well deserved Fall intersession.  See you all at Institute!

Rae

Rae A. Yamanaka

HSTA Hilo UniServ Director

101 Aupuni St., Ste.219

Hilo, HI  96720

Phone:  808-935-9301; Fax 808-969-7492

Work Cell:  808-365-6979

Email: ryamanaka@hsta.org

The greatest honor of a man is in doing good to his fellow men, not in destroying them.

(1st attachment in email)

The Big Island Labor Alliance & AFL-CIO Presents:

WHAT: BILA/AFL-CIO Celebration of Labor Event – FREE ADMISSION

WHERE: Kulaimanu Community Center & Baseball Field, Pepeekeo

 WHEN: Saturday, October 3, 2015 from 10:00AM - 2:00 PM

FEATURING ENTERTAINMENT BY: JE Orozco, Country Boys, Adam Kay and CODE ULA

Waterslides & Jumpers, Free Pizza, Water, Braddah Pops, Cotton Candy, Hot Dogs, Keiki ID's, Games & Prizes!

SPECIAL THANKS TO: AFL-CIO, Participating Unions of the Big Island Labor Alliance & Pacific Radio Group