Letter to HSTA Members

Aloha Colleagues, February 8, 2012

Together, we are facing the future.

We began by listening. In just 10 days, we visited 80% of the schools and received 5,000 completed surveys. While there are many different opinions, there was some clear consensus.

The HSTA Board has voted to take these immediate steps in response to what we believe that consensus is:

1) We will formally accept the Governor’s offer to return to bargaining.

2) We expanded the Negotiations Team to include the State Officers and additional representation from the Negotiations Committee to better represent you at the table.

3) If the Team reaches a tentative agreement with the state, they will present it to the Negotiations Committee. That Committee will make a recommendation to the Board of Directors.

4) No ratification vote will be taken until informational meetings have occurred and teachers are clear as to the content of the proposed contract.

5) We will provide updates to you via our HSTA Web site (http://www.hsta.org), e-mail & text messaging, and chapter/faculty meetings on an ongoing basis. Please see the bottom of this message for ways to stay connected.

We have decided to continue our legal action at the Labor Board. The state violated our rights last June and we must preserve our legal options in the event that renewed negotiations result in a longer stalemate.

Lastly, our public relations and legislative strategies are getting results. Thank you for your e-mail lobbying campaign. We need to keep tenure a collective bargaining issue, not a legislative issue.

Mahalo for your commitment in the classroom and your engagement in issues important to our members.

Sincerely,

Wil Okabe President