Wondering why there were a lot of school-age children around town yesterday? That’s because the teachers met at the Lihu‘e Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall for Teacher Institute 2003, sponsored by the Hawaii State Teachers Association, the Hawai‘i public-school teacher’s
Wondering why there were a lot of school-age children around town yesterday? That’s because the teachers met at the Lihu‘e Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall for Teacher Institute 2003, sponsored by the Hawaii State Teachers Association, the Hawai‘i public-school teacher’s union.
Led by new HSTA president Roger Takabayashi, public-school teachers from all over the island came to Lihu‘e for the annual event, which featured a variety of workshops to provide Kaua‘i’s teachers with the professional support they need, according to a spokeswoman for HSTA in a press release.
“(Yesterday) was the one day a year, Institute Day, that teachers can conduct union business,” said Tom Perry, the HSTA director on Kaua‘i. “We know professional development is important to our teachers,” said Takabayashi, who took over in June. “That’s why HSTA continues to offer a wide range of professional development training that’s designed to help our teachers to improve and strengthen their skills.”
Over 500 teachers from all of Kaua‘i’s public schools heard a presentation on the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal mandate that requires students to meet federal benchmarks in reading and math. They also listened to speakers such as Takabayashi, and state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua‘i-Ni‘ihau, said Perry.
“We also recognized our leaders,” said Perry, such as Kaua‘i teacher of the year, Pam McMillan. McMillan is a Kaua‘i High School 11th grade English/language arts teacher with 14 years experience.
“She says teaching is more a ‘calling’ than a profession, and teaching is (McMillan’s) calling,” said a Department of Education spokesman in a release.
“The teachers get a chance to honor the best teachers and the best practices” and share them, said Perry. “It’s a full day they put in (yesterday). It is an old-fashioned union day, Kaua‘i-style.”
It was also Takabayashi’s first chance to address Kaua‘i teachers as the president, since he took office in June.
“The time has come to make adequate funding of public schools a top priority in Hawai‘i, once and for all,” said Takabayashi in his opening remarks, according to a HSTA spokeswoman. “Public schools only work if public-school teachers get what they need and deserve.
“The HSTA believes that advances made on behalf of teachers will benefit students — and as the true beneficiaries of education, the more students learn, the more we all gain in the long run,” said the spokeswoman.
Three areas that Takabayashi would like to see Gov. Linda Lingle improve are: restoration of the VEBA trust, a trust that teachers used to use to fund their health insurance; automatic annual salary increments; and regaining incentives for the National Board Certification process.
“The truth is that Hawai‘i’s public-school teachers are some of the best-qualified, highly skilled education professionals anywhere in the nation,” said Takabayashi. “We know our students can — and will — do better when class sizes are reduced, schools are adequately and equitably funded, and parental involvement is increased.”
Teacher Institute day was implemented as part of the state and the union’s collective-bargaining agreement, the most recent one in May, said Perry. All islands have a Teacher Institute day.
