You're hearing this before anyone else.
We wanted you to be the first to know that the HSTA proudly endorses Gov. David Ige for a second term. As we have heard from teachers across the state, Gov. Ige has been a strong leader for Hawaii and the nation. We appreciate that he has made public education, teachers and students a priority.
For the past few months, HSTA chapters across the state have engaged their members in conversations about who they believe we should recommend for governor.
In late April, HSTA's Government Relations Committee interviewed ten gubernatorial candidates, including Democrats and Republicans. After the interviews, GRC had a deep discussion summarizing input from the teachers in their chapters and evaluated the candidates' records in support of our government relations priorities. The GRC's recommendations went to our Board of Directors, who took all of this into consideration along with our internal polling, which showed Ige as the teachers' favorite.
This was a difficult decision because HSTA has a friendly relationship with Gov. Ige and U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa. But teachers across the state and HSTA leaders emphasized loyalty and appreciation for everything the governor has done for education and teachers.
Gov. Ige made a strong contract for teachers one of his priorities. During negotiations last year, he worked with HSTA for days at the bargaining table. Sometimes he stayed up with us until 3 a.m. to find compromises that would work for the state, DOE and for teachers.
In the end, an overwhelming majority -- 98 percent -- of the public school teachers who turned out voted to ratify the contract. It will bring a 14 percent raise for teachers over four years. The new contract also removed the onerous and inefficient parts of the teacher evaluation system.
Gov. Ige also took unprecedented action in improving learning conditions. For decades, Hawaii’s children have suffered in classrooms where temperatures sometimes exceeded 100 degrees. Gov. Ige was able to air condition and install cooling measures in more than 1,300 classrooms.
In addition, Gov. Ige has worked with the DOE to lead the nation and take advantage of the new provisions allowed under the Every Student Succeeds Act, known as ESSA. Working with 3,000 teachers and community members, the governor’s task force created a new Blueprint for Education.
One of the task force’s key recommendations was to move to a new way of assessing students by shifting to project-based assessments instead of standardized tests. Gov. Ige has worked with the DOE for Hawaii to apply to be one of seven states in the country to move away from bubble tests to assessments that require higher level thinking. For those reasons, and so many others that are outlined in our news release, Gov. Ige is HSTA's choice to continue leading Hawaii for another four years. Read the news release here, before we send it out to the media!Thank you for your input in helping us make this important decision. | 
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