hsta updates : Hilo ESSA town hall Monday night, July 11, posted 7-8-2016

Hilo ESSA town hall meeting Monday night

Calling all HSTA teachers! HSTA, the State Senate along with State Sen. Michelle Kidani, a member of the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act Task Force, invite you to town hall meetings on the neighbor islands to learn more about ESSA and to hear from guest speaker Lee Posey, a lobbyist who specializes in education.

Hawaii Island’s free town hall is Monday, July 11 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Hilo High School.

Speaker Lee Posey is a federal affairs counsel with the education committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). She lobbies on education, representing state positions and concerns to Congress and to President Obama’s administration. She was NCSL’s chief lobbyist on ESEA reauthorization. At NCSL since 1999, Posey has worked on a variety of issues including TANF, federal childcare grants, child welfare, child support, food and nutrition program, agriculture and rural development. Before going to work at NCSL, she was a policy analyst for the Georgia State Senate, focusing on education and early childhood issues.

Please encourage anyone who’s interested in improving public education in Hawaii to attend this event, including fellow teachers, students, parents, community members, business leaders and other stakeholders.

Similar town hall meetings with Kidani, other senators and Posey will take place on Maui Tuesday, July 12 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Baldwin High School and on Kauai Wednesday, July 13, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Kapaa Elementary School cafeteria, which is connected to Kapaa High School.

For more information on the town hall meetings, email Kidani at senkidani@capitol.hawaii.edu or HSTA Teacher Lobbyist Mitzie Higa atmhiga@hsta.org.

In a separate but related effort, the state's ESSA task force will visit the Big Island for two town hall meetings July 27 at Kealakehe High School in the Kona area and on Aug. 24 at Waiakea High School in Hilo. Both meetings will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and are open to the public for testimony and discussion.

HSTA urges teachers to learn about ESSA at next week's town hall and then attend the state town hall meetings so the community can hear a strong teacher voice on what improvements are needed in public schools statewide.

"We have heard from so many teachers who have felt out-of-control in their classrooms because of too much emphasis on standardized testing," said HSTA President Corey Rosenlee. "They want more say in what happens in their classrooms. This is their first chance to do that. We ask teachers to be leaders in their classrooms, schools and communities to speak up and help shape the educational future of our state."