#hsta

The National Education Association, the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association’s parent organization, held a Freedom to Learn rally to demand that politicians stop banning books and politicizing public education.

The public school teachers in Hawaiʻi voted 92% in favor of ratifying a new 4-year agreement, which will begin July 1, 2023, according to the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association.

This year’s recipient is Daphna Ehrenhalt, a fifth-grade inclusion teacher at Keaʻau Elementary School on Hawaiʻi Island.

he settlement, which covers 13,500 teachers represented by the union, was announced on April 17 by Gov. Josh Green, Department of Education Superintendent Keith Hayashi and Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association president Osa Tui, Jr.

A few days after the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association disclosed long-time rat, mold and structural problems at Hōlualoa Elementary School on the Big Island, state school officials began making concrete steps toward some short-term fixes.

“We know there are problems statewide. We’re having this [press conference] because Hōlualoa [Elementary School] is in crisis,” said Logan Okita, vice president of the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association.

More than 40 Big Island educators gathered outside the State Office Building in Hilo on the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 24 for an informational picket to raise awareness of what they say are unsafe and inappropriate conditions for teachers at Hawai´i schools.

Concerns over defined and enforced safety protocols at Hawaiʻi’s public schools continue as educators enter the third week of the 2021-22 school during a surge in reported COVID-19 cases statewide.

Dr. Elizabeth Char, DOH director, said that a bump in coronavirus tallies will occur no matter when the state decides to send its students back to school, contending that the benefits outweigh the risks.

Christina Kishimoto will not seek a renewal of her contract as superintendent with the Hawai‘i Department of Education.

The Hawai‘i State Teachers Association is asking the Hawai‘i Board of Education’s Human Resources Committee to vote against a positive recommendation to renew the superintendent’s contract at their meeting today.

Federal funds recently allocated to the Department of Education (DOE) will allow for a budget reduction of 2.5% rather than the 10% cut that was initially projected.

The Hawai‘i Department of Education (HIDOE) released its furlough schedule for employees late Tuesday night.

The Hawai‘i Student Teacher Association (HSTA) fears the Hawai‘i Department of Education’s (HIDOE) proposed cuts could result in lost jobs and student programs.

HSTA is adamantly against the new metrics presented by the Department of Health, Thursday, that provide guidance for appropriate learning models for the remainder of the academic year.

Sonya Porchér said the last couple of weeks have been a rollercoaster as Hawai‘i teachers shifted gears to begin the 2020-21 school year with full distance learning.

The Hawai‘i State Teachers Association announced it plans to take legal action against the state and Department of Education Thursday claiming the plan to reopen public schools is reckless and dangerous as the COVID-19 pandemic surges throughout the state.

The Hawai‘i Department of Education will ask the state Board of Education to delay the start of in-person instruction at public schools this fall semester until Aug. 17, 2020.

Combined, the three groups represent all bargaining unit employees on public school campuses.

Hawai‘i public schools will reopen classroom doors on Aug. 4, but the HSTA says that’s not enough time to make schools safe for the return of its members or their students.