Teachers are voting now on who will lead their union during the next three years, a period that the state has pledged will include some of the biggest changes for public schools — and public school teachers — in decades.

The transition to a performance management system for teachers, longer school days, tougher student learning and graduation standards, and the rollout of a new rubric to determine whether schools are making adequate progress are among the big changes the Department of Education has pledged to make a reality by 2015.

In the shorter term, the teachers union also must grapple with a bitter labor dispute — threatening to head into its 10th month — and a protracted case before the Hawaii Labor Relations Board over the state’s decision to impose a "last, best and final" contract for teachers in July.

Hawaii State Teachers Association President Wil Okabe is being challenged for the union’s top spot by Konawaena High math teacher Paul Daugherty, currently a member of the union’s negotiations committee.

Daugherty is campaigning on a platform of change, while Okabe is asking teachers to consider his record of service to the union.

Ballots for the election are due Friday and results will be announced by May 7.

Since Daugherty is no union outsider, the results of the election are unlikely to produce wide-scale changes to how HSTA operates.

But the vote could shed light on how teachers are feeling about the HSTA’s direction over the past three years. That, in turn, may affect the next steps of an organization that represents 12,500 members statewide.

Political analyst Neal Milner said the breakdown of talks last year, which led to the state’s decision to unilaterally implement a contract — an unprecedented move in Hawaii public sector union negotiations — could hurt Okabe in the elections.

"Part of it is a question of how much the teachers will blame the state for that," versus the union, Milner said.

Teachers’ overwhelming rejection in January of a six-year contract that included a new performance evaluation system may also sway teachers toward Daugherty.

"I have a hunch that the opponent is going to do fairly well," said Milner, a retired University of Hawaii political science professor.

But Milner noted that Daugherty hardly appears to be a contrasting choice. The teacher has been active in HSTA for more than 25 years and has been on the negotiations committee for eight.

And while Okabe might face questions over his handling of last year’s contract negotiations, he can claim a recent victory in helping topple proposed legislation aimed at mandating the move to a performance management system for teachers. House and Senate versions of bills that would have required the system were recommitted earlier this month, essentially killing them this legislative session. The recommittals followed a major lobbying effort by HSTA, which argued the measures would take away members’ rights.

Milner said Okabe will probably use the death of the bills "as a feather in his cap."

Okabe would not speak to the Star-Advertiser for this article, explaining it is his policy not to discuss internal membership issues with the public.

"Our teachers are capable of arriving at an informed judgment without outside influences," Okabe said in an email.

In an elections handout prepared for members, Okabe said he is running for a second term because he wants to continue to "give back to the organization that has done so much for our profession."

Okabe’s supporters say he has led the union through some tough times, and has worked hard to listen and respond to teacher concerns.

"Wil is a real straight shooter," said former HSTA President Roger Taka­bayashi, who held the post from 2003 to 2009. HSTA presidents can serve up to two three-year terms.

Okabe was vice president under Takabayashi, who is now retired.

Takabayashi said Okabe, a former Waianae High football player, got his leadership style from the sports field, and believes in getting things done and working with others as a team.

"I have complete faith and trust in him that he will at least try to do the right thing," Takabayashi said. "I support Wil and I think he’s done a good job."

Several other former HSTA leaders would not comment for this article, saying they were not interested in speaking publicly on the union vote.

Daugherty said he doesn’t want to get into an ugly election challenge with Okabe and is running to offer teachers a "fresh perspective."

He tells teachers to vote for him "if you feel you need to go in a different direction." He adds, "If you feel that the (union’s) leadership under Wil Okabe has gone in a direction that you approve of, then you know who to vote for."

On several key issues, Okabe and Daugherty appear to be mostly in agreement.

Both have said they understand the state’s push to revamp teacher evaluations, rating them at least in part on multiple measures of student academic growth.

But both also stress that the evaluations have to be fair, and that teachers deserve to know the specifics of how they’re to be rated. They also say it’s clear that how teachers will be evaluated — and how those evaluations will be used in personnel decisions — are matters for collective bargaining.

Both candidates also oppose the state’s decision to unilaterally implement a contract in July 2011, saying it violated members’ rights.

Where Okabe and Daugherty appear to diverge is over how to move forward.

Daugherty would not comment on how the HSTA has handled the grueling labor dispute with the state and the subsequent prohibited-practice case before the Hawaii Labor Relations Board. But when asked whether he believes the union has taken too long before the labor board to present its case, Daugherty said, "I’m running for a reason."

The union’s case before the board began in July.

Daugherty said he is also interested in compromise and bringing "transparency" to the union. He adds that if elected, he’ll work to repair relationships and begin "rebuilding trust" with lawmakers, the Department of Education, the Board of Education and the governor.

"It’s a delicate dance of our bargaining rights and the employer’s rights," he said. "Let’s work to a compromise that works."

Over the past three years, Okabe has led the union through controversial teacher furloughs then a very public back-and-forth with the state after the imposed "last, best" contract.

Okabe stepped into office in July 2009, and just two months later the union announced it had accepted a two-year agreement that included 17 furlough days a year. The furloughs gave Hawaii students the shortest instructional year in the nation in the 2009-10 school year and triggered the ire of parents. In May 2010, after more than eight months of wrangling, the state and union agreed to a deal to end furloughs on instructional days.

HSTA was back in the news last summer, after talks fell apart and the state moved to impose a contract offer with wage reductions and higher health insurance premiums.

The dispute that ensued brought negotiations on key education reforms to a standstill and was blamed in part for putting Hawaii’s $75 million federal Race to the Top grant in danger.

Daugherty said there is no argument that whoever takes the top seat at HSTA will be leading the union through some major changes. "This is the last three years of Race to the Top," he said. "The next few years are extremely critical for teachers in Hawaii."