Hawaii teachers union endorses Hanabusa plus Council candidates

The Hawaii State Teachers Association is backing former Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa for mayor, its first endorsement ever in a county-level election.

“She’s going to be a great mayor,” HSTA President Corey Rosenlee said Monday. “I know Hawaii right now needs someone who has leadership, who has worked at the federal level, who has worked at the state level, because during a crisis you want someone who can hit the ground running.”

Hanabusa was the first female president of the state Senate before being elected to Congress. She resigned that seat to run in the Democratic primary for governor in 2018 but lost to David Ige.

The teachers union previously focused strictly on state elections, since public education is handled by the state government. But Rosenlee said teachers are affected by city-level issues — from a lack of affordable housing for themselves to homelessness among their students — and decided to weigh in this year.

“I can’t tell you what an honor it is,” Hanabusa said. “The HSTA has never before participated in county elections, so I view this as such an amazing stamp of appro­val to be the first that the HSTA and its membership will be advocating for.”

“When you’re from Waianae like I am, the one thing you know is that the equalizing factor for all students is teachers,” she added.

Rosenlee credited Hana­busa, a labor lawyer, with successfully challenging Ethics Commission advice that public school teachers who organize and chaperone school trips could not accept free travel.

“She had an idea of going to Circuit Court,” he said. “Because of what she did, we won, allowing teachers and students to take field trips again.”

Rosenlee said that as mayor Hanabusa would put teachers’ and children’s concerns in the forefront, and teacher housing is a possible area where the union could work with the counties.

HSTA also issued endorsements for City Council candidates in four races. Five seats are up for grabs on the Council because of term limits.

>> District 1 (Ewa Beach to Waianae): Anthony Makana Paris, who has worked as a research analyst for the Ironworkers Stabilization Fund and is president of the Prince Kuhio Hawaiian Civic Club.

>> District 5 (Kaimuki- Makiki): Calvin Say, former speaker of the state House.

>> District 7 (Kalihi to Foster Village): Ryan Mandado, a former special-education teacher and currently chief academic officer of a public charter school.

>> District 9 (Mililani- Ewa Beach): Will Espero, who formerly served as a state senator, state representative and manager of the city’s neighborhood boards.

“These candidates are strong supporters of public education and are committed to creating a better future for our keiki,” Rosenlee said.

HSTA’s Windward chapter opted not to make any county-level endorsements in the Windward district.

The teachers union represents 13,700 public school teachers statewide and is the state affiliate of the National Education Association. Rosenlee said the union decided to issue endorsements only on Oahu in this first foray into county politics.

The mayoral candidates have been splitting up union endorsements. Hanabusa also won the endorsement of the Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 368. Meanwhile, the Hawaii Government Employees Association endorsed Keith Amemiya, and the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers endorsed Rick Blangiardi.

In his bid for mayor, Mufi Hannemann has support from the Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996, which represents city bus drivers; the International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers Union Local 625; the Operative Plasterers’ &Cement Masons’ International Association Local 630; and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1.