KITV ABC 4 reports that Hawaii’s public school teachers have overwhelmingly rejected a proposed contract by a margin of 67% to 33%. The teachers turned down a six-year deal that included pay raises based on performance and years in service.
Continue reading...The Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) has filed suit in state court, reports Courthouse News Service, alleging that the Hawaii Labor Relations Board (HLRB) unconstitutionally denied its motion for interlocutory relief from the state’s “take it or leave it” approach to collective bargaining by repeatedly delaying hearings on the teacher union’s complaint.
Continue reading...According to KITV ABC 4, the State of Hawaii has agreed to end implementation of its random drug testing policy for teachers, for which it had negotiated in a 2007 contract. Although the teachers had agreed to the contract, which included the random drug testing program along with pay increases, the Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) has opposed the policy since the contract was signed.
Continue reading...Education Week reports that the November, 2010, ballot measure proposing to change the way Hawaii Board of Education members acquire their positions has passed. Board members will no longer be elected as they have been since 1966; they will be appointed by the governor.
Continue reading...If the constitutional amendment is approved in the November, 2010 election, says the Associated Press in Education Week, members of the Hawaii State Board of Education (HBOE) will be appointed by the governor, rather than elected as is the current practice. A group called Hawaii’s Children First (HCF) has pushed to change the structure of the 14-member board in hopes that an appointed board would be more accountable. “People can decide for themselves whether they’re happy with the status quo,” said HCF Chairman Randy Baldemor. “If it’s not working, we should change. We should try something new.”
Continue reading...Hawaii public school teachers have filed suit in state court to block changes in their health coverage, alleging that the state’s plan to do away with their health benefit trust fund is unconstitutional, says the Star Advertiser. The suit claims the state plans to transfer their health benefit plans from “the financially sound” teacher’s fund to the “insolvent or nearly insolvent” Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF).
Continue reading...A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (CA, OR, WA, AZ, MT, ID, NV, AK, HI, GU, MP) three-judge panel has ruled that the parents of two children with autism stated a valid claim for damages under§ 504 of the Rehabilitation Act against the Hawaii Department of Education (HDE) for denying their children meaningful access to the benefit of a public education.
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