HSTA negotiations team holds first talks with state
Bargaining for a new contract began Mon., Aug. 15 when both sides met for the first time in a three-and-a-half hour session at Hawaii State Teachers Association headquarters.
Both sides exchanged initial proposals. HSTA's negotiations team will meet Aug. 26 to analyze the employer's initial proposals and preliminary responses from the Association's teacher compensation survey. The Negotiations Committee will also meet Sat., Aug. 27 at HSTA.
Please complete this Negotiations Compensation Survey by Friday, Aug. 26.
HSTA's Negotiations Committee is chaired by Osa Tui (Honolulu), a member of the negotiations team which includes Paul Daugherty (Kona), Shannon Kaaa (Honolulu), Diane Mokuau (Molokai) and Corey Rosenlee (HSTA president). Also representing HSTA at the bargaining table were its Chief Negotiator Andrea Eshelman, Executive Director Wilbert Holck and Negotiations Specialist Ray Camacho.
At the table for the state were Schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi, Deputy Superintendent Stephen Schatz, Board of Education Chair Lance Mizumoto, BOE Member Maggie Cox and James Nishimoto, the director for the Department of Human Resources Development and acting state chief negotiator.
Watch this video presentation of HSTA's contract proposals.
Know your rights: teacher protection
Your contract requires the employer to provide “legal counsel for teachers who are sued for actions taken by them in the course of their employment and within the scope of their duties and responsibilities” (Article X, page 47).
In addition to the contract requirements, the HSTA and National Education Association (NEA) membership entitles teachers to $1 million of professional liability insurance through the HSTA/NEA Educators Employment Liability (EEL) insurance program. Your coverage is worldwide, includes coverage on and off school grounds, and is in force 24 hours a day, as long as you are performing your educational employment activities.
For more details on the EEL program, click here You may also contact your local HSTA office for more information.
Speak out for school improvements in ESSA survey; new ESSA town halls set for Kauai, Lanai; new time, location on Molokai
Gov. David Ige and his Every Student Succeeds Act Task Force are seeking teacher input about the blueprint that will shape the direction of change and lay the foundation for the educational system we seek to create. Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts about the current state of public education in Hawaii and the ways in which you think it should be transformed.
Take the brief teachers' ESSA survey here.
There are only two teachers on the 19-member task force, which is working to come up with recommendations to improve education in Hawaii and adjust to the new federal education law that was approved in late 2015. HSTA would like to make sure the others on the task force hear compelling stories from the classroom front lines by people in the best position to know what needs to change at the Department of Education: public school education. For an updated town hall list and to register, click here.Please make time to show up and be heard at the upcoming ESSA meetings nearest you.
- Mon., Aug. 22, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Waimea High School, Kauai
- Wed., Aug. 24, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Waiakea High School, Hawaii Island
- Wed., Aug. 24, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School, Kauai
- Sat., Aug. 27, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Kaunakakai Elementary School, Molokai
- Wed., Sept. 7, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Maui High School, Maui
- Wed., Sept. 7, 6 to 8 p.m. Castle High School, Oahu
- Thurs., Sept. 8, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Lanai High and Elementary School, Lanai
- Wed., Sept. 14, 6 to 8 p.m., Moanalua High School, Oahu
HSTA's two ESSA task force members offer advice on legal and policy possibilities under new federal law
Last year's teacher of the year, Catherine Caine and HSTA secretary-treasurer Amy Perruso are the two teachers who serve on the state's ESSA task force. Caine, a fourth grade teacher at Waikiki Elementary, and Perruso, a social studies teacher at Mililani High School, have drawn up some specific policy and legal possibilities within ESSA for public school teachers, based on what they've heard from front-line teachers so far.
In a two-page summary that was distributed at the Summer Leadership Training, they talk about several key areas, including:
- Professional respect and empowerment
- Less testing and more learning
- Public schools as sites of democratic decision-making
- Public schools as site for social justice
These ESSA talking points can be used by teachers to prepare to speak at the task force meetings throughout the state that end Sept. 14.
Attention board-certified teacher candidates: free support!
Candidates for National Board certification are invited to register for year-long candidate support. These sessions provide a supportive and collaborative learning environment led by National Board Certified Teachers. There is no cost to HSTA members!
To register for free NBCT support sessions, click here.
There will be six two-hour sessions scheduled for each cohort. Sessions include an overview of the National Board process, detailed information for each component and time for candidates to share, peer review, and reflect.
Deadline to register is Sept. 16. Cohorts will be formed geographically across the state after registration closes. |
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