Hawaii State Teachers Association

On January 1, 1971, with the formal incorporation of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, a core group of dedicated visionaries came together to form the frontline in the battle to bring education and teacher issues to the forefront of the State’s public agenda. Now, more than a quarter of a century later, many of those same leaders are still fighting for teachers’ rights. Today, they are focused on a new set of goals and priorities, but their ideals remain the same – to make school a better place for teachers and students alike.

Education is the fundamental foundation of our society. This simple principle drives the ongoing efforts of the Association as it represents teachers in the workplace and beyond. The Association works, not simply to get “perks” for teachers, but to create an environment where teachers have every opportunity to do their best for the students. HSTA has long recognized that students are the true beneficiaries of education – advances made on behalf of teachers benefit students – and the more students gain from education, the more we all gain in the long run.

These are tremendously challenging times. Teachers are being asked to do more for a larger, more diverse student population, while facing greater obstacles in and out of the classroom, with far fewer resources.

Although this may seem like an escalating crisis, just look around to see how much teachers achieve in the classroom every day. Certainly, much can be attributed to their own amazing ingenuity, but teachers also have come to rely on the Association as a vigorous advocate of their cause. The Association is valued not only for the hard fought victories won on teachers’ behalf in the tumultuous days of the early 70s, but also for the groundbreaking accomplishments in many emerging areas of professional concern to teachers.

HSTA and teachers form a partnership that works.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association was originally created with the sole mission of serving the needs of Hawaii’s public school teachers, in all facets of their professional lives.

The saga of HSTA began in 1971 when teachers were called upon to decide first if they desired organized representation at all and then, which organization they would select to represent them. For the newly coalesced Association, its staff and leadership, those early months represented a battle against the forces that were satisfied with the way things had always been.

The representative election pitted HSTA against the Hawaii Federation of Teachers. HFT was a “pure” union that devoted itself to addressing the “bread-and-butter” issues of employment, wages, hours and working conditions.

On the other side of the ballot, HSTA had developed a more holistic yin-and-yang approach to the situation combining the basics with a strong focus on professional issues and development. For HSTA it was about more than getting a better deal for teachers – it was about putting teachers in the driver’s seat, where they would have a chance to make education better.

With creativity, energy, effort and sheer willpower, the Association convinced the “Old Guard” that dramatic change and possible confrontation – even a strike – were the only real ways to ensure that teachers could win a better deal for themselves on every level from personal job satisfaction to professional recognition and reward.

The beginning was a time when conflict between the growing wave of militancy among teachers and the steadfast undercurrent of “going-along-to-get-along” suddenly came to a head. Not surprisingly, victory ultimately came to the Association, speaking out in favor of teachers; taking a stand to show that they would no longer accept what the administration chose to offer them.

Almost immediately, their presence infused teachers throughout the state with new ideas, fresh perspective and a growing interest in the power of activism.