HSTA keeps advocating for teachers and students after Supreme Court decision
In a narrow decision, the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday turned its back on the educators, nurses, firefighters, police officers and public servants who make our communities smart, strong and safe.
In Janus v. AFSCME, the court overturned common sense jurisprudence that was established more than 40 years ago. The majority of the Supreme Court has sided with big corporations and billionaires who are trying to weaken unions, decrease worker rights and lower pay and benefits for middle class union members.
As a 20-year classroom teacher, I know what my students need to succeed. Unions like the HSTA have always helped educators to use their collective power to advocate for smaller class sizes, safer schools and better learning environments for all students. That will not change.
So, while the court made it more difficult for us to do our jobs, we are a resourceful group. We must stay strong together as a union so we can advocate for what our teachers and students need to succeed. And we will never stop fighting for the schools our keiki deserve.
In solidarity,
Corey Rosenlee
HSTA President
P.S. For more information about today’s decision in the Janus case, read this news story and for further background on the Janus case click here.
Other states publicizing teacher lava victims' plight
The HSTA learned of another teacher who's a victim of the lava flows on Hawaii Island. Among the hundreds of people who are homeless because of the lava is Kua O Ka La charter school special education teacher Jane Howard.
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GoFundMe for Jane Howard
At HSTA's request, other NEA affiliates around the country have begun sharing the fundraising links for our teachers affected by the volcano. Here's a post from the Illinois Education Association.
Click on each photo for a link to other teachers' stories.
GoFundMe for Shapiro Ohana
Daniel Shapiro, who teaches at the charter school Hawaii Academy of Arts and Sciences, has lost his longtime family home in Kapoho to the lava. Please read this GoFundMe appeal put together by his friends to help the Shapiro ohana -- who've lived in Kapoho for 27 years -- rebuild their lives.
GoFundMe for Shannon Harbaugh
Shannon Harbaugh, who has taught for ten years at Pahoa High and Intermediate, lost her home in Puna last week when lava covered her entire property.  GoFundMe for Crespo-Venti
The lava has also surrounded and cut off Pahoa Elementary teacher Tish Crespo-Venti's family home and destroyed the Kapoho Village Inn, a historic inn she and her husband ran. Her family had to evacuate with little notice and escaped with very few possessions.  GoFundMe for Amanda and MikeHusband and wife Amanda and Mike Elswick, who both teach at Keonepoko Elementary, had their home destroyed by lava. If you know of other HSTA members whose homes have been destroyed by or cut off because of the lava, please notify us at info@hsta.org. Mahalo.
HSTA delegates arrive in Minneapolis for NEA RA
Delegates you elected gathered in the Midwest this week to help set policy and chart the direction of the National Education Association at the largest democratic deliberative body in the world, with more than 6,000 teachers participating.
A total of 83 elected teacher and retiree delegates from across Hawaii arrived in Minneapolis in the last day or so to participate in the National Education Association's 156th Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly. There are ten first-time delegates from Hawaii this year, with six delegates funding their own trips to the NEA RA.
Gov. Ige understands teachers' concerns, just one of many reasons he deserves your vote!
 Speaking at an Ige Stew and Rice event this week, Honolulu Chapter President Osa Tui, Jr., who's the HSTA liaison for the Ige campaign, told the crowd, “In Governor Ige's closet, all you're likely to find are a bunch of aloha shirts. What you won't find are skeletons in the closet, you won't find a hidden back room where deals are made.” Tui, who is the incoming HSTA vice president, called Ige “someone whose mantra could be summed up as Integrity Governs Everything.” Click here for an Ige teacher call-to-action flier and this Ige fact sheet, explaining just some of the reasons why educators should vote him in for another four years.
July 4 parade volunteers needed for LG candidate Green in Kailua and Kona
Please give our recommended candidate for lieutenant governor, Dr. Josh Green, some kokua and volunteer to march in his campaign's units duringJuly 4 parades in Kona on Hawaii Island and in Kailua on Oahu. Contact HSTA Government Relations Specialist Mitzie Higa if you are able to join us by emailing mhiga@hsta.org. Now more than ever, we need to show union solidarity and march together with candidates we support.
Maui Chapter: Sign wave for Lt. Gov. candidate Dr. Josh Green and other candidates in the weeks ahead
 Above: Members of the HSTA's Maui Chapter waved to motorists in support of State Sen. Josh Green, who has earned our recommendation in the lieutenant governor's race. More events have been scheduled to support Green on Friday afternoons. (see below)
Dr. Josh Green sign waving schedule
1. Friday, July 13, 4 to 6 p.m. in Kahului – (location to be determined)
2. Friday, July 27, 4 to 6 p.m. in Waiehu – in front of the Tropical Plantation
3. Friday, Aug. 10, 4 to 6 p.m. at Haleakala and Hana Highway
On Maui: Tiare Lawrence sign waving schedule
 Sign wave for Tiare Lawrence, who's running for Maui's State House District 12, every Friday until the primary election on August 11. Meet Friday mornings from 6:30 to 8 a.m. at the bottom of Haleakala Highway, coffee and breakfast provided.
On Maui: Terez Amato sign waving schedule
Sign wave for Terez Amato, who's running for Maui's State Senate District 6, next few Thursday afternoons (July 5) from 4 to 6 p.m. in front of the Lahaina Cannery Mall.
Apply now to participate in the 2018 Teacher Leadership Institute, a free professional learning opportunity for HSTA members.
The Teacher Leadership Institute (TLI) is a year-long professional learning opportunity offered to HSTA/NEA members. The TLI seeks to advance student learning by enhancing and expanding the professional practice of teachers and equipping them with knowledge and skills to lead a transformed teaching profession. The TLI will prepare you to serve as a leader of the profession, with the knowledge, skills and core values to meet the new demands as a 21st-century teaching professional.
TLI 2018 Program Overview
Apply for TLI now
Molokai teacher earns NEA Foundation fellowship
The NEA Foundation, a public charity founded by educators for educators, has named Diane Abraham, a middle school teacher at Kualapuu school on Molokai, as a 2019 NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellow. As a fellow, Abraham will visit South Africa and spend a year in a peer learning network, building global competency skills: the capacity to understand and act on issues of global significance. Congrats!
For more about the NEA Foundation fellowship, and how Abraham will spend part of the next year, click here.
Corey Rosenlee, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, says the latest DOE statistics are startling.
- Teacher vacancies are up 51 percent from 2011.
- The number of unlicensed teachers who don't meet state qualifications rose 63 percent from 2011.
- The number of in-state education program graduates dropped 29 percent from 2010.
Carrie Rose was born and raised in Wahiawa. She's been a special education teacher at Waialua Elementary for three years, but leaves for Colorado next month. Rose is not alone. According to Department of Education statistics, over a seven-year-period, the number of those leaving for the mainland increased 84 percent.
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