The Hawaii State Teachers Association has received a stinging rebuke from the Hawaii State Labor Relations Board in its prohibited practices case against the state for implementing its “last, best and final” contract offer. In July, HSTA filed an amended motion for interlocutory relief and tried to strike the state’s declarations of opposition on the [...]
Posted tagged ‘education’
HSTA can’t get its affidavits straight
September 9, 2011New twists in teachers contract dispute
August 18, 2011The state Ethics Commission is likely to take more flak from high places for its advisory ruling that led Sesnita Moepono, one of three members of the Hawaii Labor Relations Board, to withdraw from the prohibited practices case involving the Hawaii State Teachers Association contract. The ethics determination was pretty much a no-brainer; Moepono’s husband [...]
Governor must answer, ‘Where’s the beef?’
August 17, 2011In his speech today updating constituents on the status of his “New Day” program, Gov. Neil Abercrombie once again did an excellent job of describing the major challenges that Hawai‘i faces. But he still hasn’t gotten to the hardest part — prescribing specific remedies that a critical mass of Hawai‘i residents will support despite the [...]
HSTA flounders in labor battle
August 17, 2011The Hawaii State Teachers Association is making self-defeating moves in its legal fight to overturn a state-imposed contract that hits teachers with a 5-percent pay cut and a greater share of medical premiums. The HSTA’s complaint to the state Ethics Commission that Gov. Neil Abercrombie and the Department of Education engaged in illegal ex parte [...]
New hope in teachers’ labor dispute, or just hype?
August 8, 2011It could be naive, but I’m going to take the offer of the Hawaii State Teachers Association to enter into mediation with the state in their continuing contract dispute as a sign of progress and not more posturing. The teachers union is currently pursuing legal action against the state after Gov. Neil Abercrombie and schools Superintendent [...]
Cursive gets curt dismissal
August 2, 2011Is anybody here greatly bothered that Hawai‘i public school students won’t be required to learn cursive writing under national core learning standards the Department of Education is adopting this year? With students using keyboarding for more and more of their written communication, many schools are reducing emphasis on cursive to create time to teach higher [...]
Teachers play political card in contract dispute
July 28, 2011The latest plea by the Hawaii State Teachers Association to get Gov. Neil Abercrombie back to the bargaining table seems more intended to step up political pressure on Abercrombie than to actually restart negotiations. In a letter to Abercrombie, HSTA president Wil Okabe made blatant reference to the union’s campaign endorsement of Abercrombie and said, [...]
Keep up the pressure in schools
July 18, 2011I appreciate the frustration in the public school system over the latest round of annual math and reading scores under the federal No Child Left Behind mandate. Though math scores improved slightly and students held steady in reading, the number of schools meeting proficiency goals, called annual yearly progress, decreased because the goals got tougher [...]
Teachers talks got lost in sour tone
July 12, 2011I found it fascinating that much of the complaint the Hawaii State Teachers Association filed with the Labor Relations Board over the Abercrombie administration imposing its “last, best and final offer” centered on hurt feelings over the tone of negotiations. The Star-Advertiser story caught the gist of it in this passage: HSTA’s complaint details eight [...]
Give the kids a place at the table in school contract talks
July 6, 2011It’s disappointing that the stalled contract negotiations between the state and public school teachers appear to be focused entirely on pay and benefits, with little discussion of promised reforms to improve student learning. After the furlough Fridays fiasco, the Legislature tried to mollify angry parents with new laws requiring a minimum of 180 instruction days [...]
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