HGEA

Author: Malulani Moreno

  • STATEMENT: HGEA Demands the Attorney General Release All Available Investigation Findings to Allow for a Fair Lieutenant Governor Election

    STATEMENT: HGEA Demands the Attorney General Release All Available Investigation Findings to Allow for a Fair Lieutenant Governor Election

    Statement from HGEA’s Executive Director Randy Perreira

    With the entrance of Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami into the race for Hawaii’s lieutenant governor, HGEA is demanding that Attorney General Anne Lopez give the public all the information she has on hand to ensure a free and fair election.

    The AG’s office has in their possession all documents and recordings from the federal investigation, and withholding that information from the public is no longer an option. The public deserves to know what the AG knows in order to clear up the cloud of suspicion hanging over Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke. This will allow the electorate to make an informed decision and not be swayed solely based on media innuendo and unsubstantiated allegations.

    No candidate should be allowed to capitalize on the mass confusion among the voting public about Luke’s campaign finances. So far, the public has not been given any evidence of wrongdoing. Her campaign made a few rather inconsequential recording errors, which Luke has reported and corrected as anyone with an ounce of integrity would do.

    The longer the AG’s office sits on what they know, political opponents of Luke will be able to unfairly use the shadow of doubt against her. If the AG’s silence drags on, the voting public should be ready to conclude that what is occurring here is a calculated and organized effort by sitting politicians who would desire nothing else but to sink the career of a political threat, someone who has to-date shown an admirable level of personal integrity in office, whether as a state representative or as LG.

    ###

    Media Contacts:

    Malulani Moreno
    Communications Manager
    (808) 543-0024
    mmoreno@hgea.org

    Kristina Lum
    Senior Communications Specialist
    (808) 543-0063
    klum@hgea.org

  • 📫📥Submit Your General Assembly Resolutions

    MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

    Connecting Classroom to Careers

    Unit 6 Members Highlighted in NASSP’s Principal Leadership Magazine

    Cover of Principal Leadership Magazine featuring HGEA Unit 6 members

    Principals Kelcy Koga of Waiakea High School, Mahina Anguay of Waimea High School and Zachary Sheets of Waipahu High School — all Unit 6 members — shared their first-person accounts of “connecting classrooms to careers,” building relevance and preparing students for a fast-changing world in Principal Leadership Magazine.

    “I didn’t start classroom teaching until I was 40, but I’m glad because that gave me a deep layer of non-school experiences,” Anguay said. “Today, as a principal I’m proud to provide my students with a career academy experience and expose them to so many career options before graduating from high school.”

    Submit Resolutions

    Charter/Bylaws Due May 12

    Non-Charter/Bylaws Due June 10

    The 28th Biennial HGEA General Assembly will take place on Sept. 10-12 at the Sheraton Waikiki Beach Resort on Oahu. As the highest governing body of the union, the general assembly considers amendments to the HGEA charter of incorporation and bylaws, along with other non-charter/bylaws resolutions. The Committee on Charter, Bylaws and Resolutions is responsible for reviewing all proposed resolutions and making a recommendation to the general assembly.

    Members may use the form linked below to submit a resolution for consideration. One form is for proposed amendments to the charter and/or the bylaws; the other form is for general resolutions. Guidelines on how to prepare a resolution are provided for your reference.

    Charter/Bylaws Resolutions are due 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 12

    Non-Charter/Bylaws Resolutions are due 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 10

    FIGHTING FOR YOU

    No Dictators Rallies

    Saturday, March 28 on Oahu, Maui and Big Island

    No Dictators Rallies

    Saturday, March 28

    Times Vary by Location

    Indivisible Hawaii, a grassroots movement to protect and enhance democracy in the U.S. and Hawaii, is organizing rallies across the state to send a pro-democracy message to extremists in Washington, D.C.

    If you choose to participate in peaceful protest, Indivisible Hawaii urges you to follow its guidelines for respectful engagement and taking safety percautions.


    Germaine’s Luau

    Enjoy a local style backyard luau at a discounted rate.


    Volunteers needed! Hawaii Island Special Olympics

    Make a difference and support the athletes. Keaau High School Track, Saturday,

    April 18, 6 a.m.

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    FOLLOW US

    Please do not reply to this email as we are not able to respond to messages sent to this address.

    For a complete list of member discounts or for more HGEA news, visit www.hgea.org.

    If you have specific inquiries, contact your local HGEA office or the HGEA Member Service Center at

    (808) 543-0000 or service@hgea.org.

  • Connecting Classrooms to Careers: Three Unit 6 Principals Share Their Stories in NASSP’s Principal Leadership Magazine

    Connecting Classrooms to Careers: Three Unit 6 Principals Share Their Stories in NASSP’s Principal Leadership Magazine

    Three Unit 6 members who are part of the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Academy were recognized in the organizations February issue of Principal Leadership magazine.

    Their first-person accounts tell the story of “connecting classrooms to careers,” building relevance and preparing students for a fast-changing world.

    The principals are Kelcy Koga of Waiakea High School, Mahina Anguay of Waimea High School and Zachary Sheets of Waipahu High School.

    “I didn’t start classroom teaching until I was 40, but I’m glad because that gave me a deep layer of non-school experiences,” Anguay said. “Today, as a principal I’m proud to provide my students with a career academy experience and expose them to so many career options before graduating from high school.”

    At Waimea, students in their sophomore year can choose from the Technology and Design Academy or the Health, Agriculture, Hospitality and Tourism Academy.

    At Waiakea High School, Koga said the school’s early academy model was “too ambitious,” but since 2012 the school has been offering four academy options at the beginning of sophomore year.

    “We have students in our health services academy who can graduate high school with a certified nursing assistant certification,” Koga said. “From there, they can get hired at a local hospital or pursue an additional nursing degree. We have similar certification programs for our other three academies.”

    Similar successes are happening at Waipahu High School where Sheets is principal. The school offers six academies, which include multiple pathways. It was the first high school in the state to achieve “wall-to-wall” National Career Academy Coalition model status in 2020 under now-Superintendent Keith Hayashi.

    “It is an honor to continue their work and build upon their momentum to ensure WHS remains an example of the transformative power of public education,” Sheets said.

  • Arbitration Hearing Begins Monday

    FIGHTING FOR YOU

    Arbitration Hearing Begins Monday

    Salary increases and step movements are top priorities.

    Aloha Unit 15 Member,

    Salary increases and step movements are a top priority for your negotiating team as we begin our week-long arbitration hearing on Monday, March 2.

    As you may recall, we reached an impasse with the employer to negotiate terms for a new contract that was to begin July 1, 2025.

    A decision rendered through arbitration is final and binding even though individual county councils must still pass funding bills. Members will not need to vote on an arbitration outcome.

    We will send you an update at the end of the week to give you any major news out of the hearing.

    Depending on the trajectory of the hearing and the issues raised, it is possible that we will need last-minute testimony. We will send you immediate updates should we need your voice on a particular topic.

    If you have questions, feel free to reach out to your respective island negotiator or to HGEA Field Services Consultant Joy Kuwabara at (808) 543-0078 or jkuwabara@hgea.org. Your negotiating team is made up of the following members who volunteer their time:

    Jonah Romero, Maui

    Travis White, Maui

    Chad Listman, Kauai

    Joseph Cadiz, Oahu

    Daniel O’Halloran, Hawaii

    Southwest Airlines

    Book your next adventure with our increased inter-island discount.


    UH Family Fun Day: Men’s Volleyball

    UH vs. UCLA at the BankOh Arena, Stan Sheriff Center. Saturday, March 14 at 7 p.m.

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    FOLLOW US

    Please do not reply to this email as we are not able to respond to messages sent to this address.

    For a complete list of member discounts or for more HGEA news, visit www.hgea.org.

    If you have specific inquiries, contact your local HGEA office or the HGEA Member Service Center at

    (808) 543-0000 or service@hgea.org.

  • 🎉You did it!

    FIGHTING FOR YOU

    You Did It!

    Bad provisions removed from the DOE restructuring bill.

    On the heels of an outpour of testimony from our members against SB 3334 attacking the way principals are selected and evaluated, lawmakers today posted a radically revised bill that removes all the elements we opposed.

    Thanks to you, the bill no longer elevates the role of school community councils in the evaluation and selection of principals. And lawmakers heard our message that attempting to legislate something that should be negotiated sets a dangerous precedent for all the other contractual rights we have.

    The second draft of the bill is dramatically different. The new version establishes a cap on the total number of superintendent-level positions in the state Department of Education. It also requires periodic performance evaluations of complex area superintendents and provide them to the Legislature upon request.

    A hearing has been set on SD 2 for Monday, March 2. We will be watching to see what, if any, comments Superintendent Keith Hayashi and the DOE offer on the revised bill.

    Mahalo for everything you did to defeat the problems with this measure.

    Southwest Airlines

    Book your next adventure with our increased inter-island discount.


    UH Family Fun Day: Men’s Volleyball

    UH vs. UCLA at the BankOh Arena, Stan Sheriff Center. Saturday, March 14 at 7 p.m.

    FacebookInstagramYouTube

    FOLLOW US

    Please do not reply to this email as we are not able to respond to messages sent to this address.

    For a complete list of member discounts or for more HGEA news, visit www.hgea.org.

    If you have specific inquiries, contact your local HGEA office or the HGEA Member Service Center at

    (808) 543-0000 or service@hgea.org.

  • 💪🚨The fight is still on!

    FIGHTING FOR YOU

    Your Voices Made a Difference,

    But the Fight Is Not Over Yet

    Bad provisions in DOE restructuring bill still need to be defeated.

    More than 330 pages of testimony from 170-plus individuals poured into the Senate Ways & Means Committee in opposition to Sen. Donna Mercado Kim’s bill (SB 3334) that attacks the way principals are selected and evaluated, as well as restructures the school system.

    And senators took notice. How could they not?

    Thanks to you, Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz deferred action on the measure and signaled his intention to revise the bill.

    Bad Provisions Remain

    With a second draft of the bill still pending, we must gear up to fight objectionable provisions that would change how principals are selected and evaluated, such as giving school community councils greater say in the process.

    This would have a huge implication for everyone, not just educational officers.

    Lawmakers attempting to legislate something that should be negotiated sets a dangerous precedent. If they can do this, what’s to stop them from legislating away your sick leave, holidays and other benefits?

    Gear Up for the Next Fight

    We can celebrate how much your voices made a difference in pushing back against this overreach by lawmakers, but we are not out of the woods yet. Depending on how many bad provisions remain in the revised bill, we may need you to step forward again and make your voices heard. We will be in touch when a second draft is posted and a committee hearing set.

    Mahalo for staying #HGEAstrong!

    Southwest Airlines

    Book your next adventure with our increased inter-island discount.


    UH Family Fun Day: Men’s Volleyball

    UH vs. UCLA at the BankOh Arena, Stan Sheriff Center. Saturday, March 14 at 7 p.m.

    FacebookInstagramYouTube

    FOLLOW US

    Please do not reply to this email as we are not able to respond to messages sent to this address.

    For a complete list of member discounts or for more HGEA news, visit www.hgea.org.

    If you have specific inquiries, contact your local HGEA office or the HGEA Member Service Center at

    (808) 543-0000 or service@hgea.org.

  • Send Lawmakers Your Opposition to the DOE Restructuring Bill

    Send Lawmakers Your Opposition to the DOE Restructuring Bill

    On Wednesday, Feb. 25 the Senate Ways and Means Committee is set to hear Sen. Donna Mercado Kim’s bill (SB 3334) that attacks the way principals are selected and evaluated, as well as restructures the school system. We need you to tell lawmakers, “Hands off DOE.”

    Wednesday, Feb. 25, 10:55 AM
    Conference Room 211 & Videoconference
    Hawaii State Capitol

    Now is not the time to let up on the gas. Lawmakers are restricting testimony to written only — so we need to send the committee our opposition. Submit your testimony now. You have until 10:55 tomorrow morning, or else your testimony will be marked late and may not be considered.

    After the Friday, Feb. 13 Education Committee hearing, Sen. Kim lashed out on the Senate floor to call you names. We rebuked Sen. Kim for her bullying tactics, but some senators have doubled-down. Sen. Glenn Wakai told a Kalihi neighborhood board that you showed up on Feb. 13 to “defend the status quo.”

    We need to remind these senators that principals, vice principals and other educational officers are highly educated and highly credentialed — you are the experts on how to run our schools, not them.

  • In the News: Union Rebukes Senator as School Leadership Bill Sparks Capitol Clash

    After obtaining a letter from HGEA addressed to Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, KHON-2’s Jill Kuramoto spoke with Executive Director Randy Perreira about his condemnation of Kim for her attacks on principals, vice principals and educational officers.

    “She crossed the line with my organization when she decided to attack public employees directly. So we are fighting back,” said Perreira in an interview with KHON-2.

    Kim lashed out in an unprecedented floor speech on Tuesday, calling more than 100 educational officers disrespectful after they appeared at her Senate Education Committee hearing. She alleged the EOs, members of HGEA’s Unit 6, booed and jeered other testifiers. The allegation is false: Our members expressed their disapproval of senator’s rude and condescending treatment of Deputy Superintendent Heidi Armstrong.

    “I think the principals demonstrated that we all have a civic responsibility to participate in our government and showing up to testify, even though you’re not agreeing with the idea that the lawmakers are attempting to put forward. That’s part of your right,” Perreira told KHON-2. “It was just uncalled for going further and suggesting that these individuals, school administrators, lack decorum, if you will. There was some noise, for sure, but no more than any other large group that has gathered at the Capitol.”

  • Tell Lawmakers ‘Hands Off DOE’

    Tell Lawmakers ‘Hands Off DOE’

    The Senate Education Committee plans to hear a bad bill introduced by Sen. Donna Kim that would rid the Department of Education of Complex-Area Superintendents.

    HGEA strongly opposes this proposal. Repealing the CAS structure and altering principal selection and evaluation authority would not strengthen the public school system — it would reverse decades of progress, destabilize supports for principals, and create new uncertainty for schools and communities.

    DOE employees, it is time to show up and speak up.

    Friday, Feb. 13, 1:05 p.m.

    State Capitol, Room 229 (and virtual)

    415 South Beretania Street

    Use your Institute Day tomorrow for urgent civic action! Oppose Senate Bill 3334!

  • RELEASE: HGEA Endorses Bernard Carvalho for Kauai County Mayor

    RELEASE: HGEA Endorses Bernard Carvalho for Kauai County Mayor

    Carvalho has a proven track record to lead during uncertain times.

    As the extremists in control of the federal government put unprecedented strain on local governments by cutting funding for vital public services, Kauai County needs proven leadership that working class families can rely on.

    That’s why the Hawaii Government Employees Association is endorsing Bernard Carvalho for Kauai County Mayor. As mayor for 10 years on the Garden Isle, Carvalho put the needs of working people first — prioritizing community development, diversifying Kauai’s economy and quality of life over outside special interests.

    Hawaii stands to lose a massive $3.5 billion in funding from the federal government, all so billionaires and greedy corporations can get more tax cuts they don’t need. These reckless decisions mean counties will face tough choices that will impact our most vulnerable residents, like our kids and kupuna.

    “With the challenges we are facing, we need someone as mayor with the experience to bring the community together to tackle these trials on day one. Bernard Carvalho is the person to move us forward,” said HGEA Executive Director Randy Perreira.

    Our island faces significant challenges, from the lack of affordable housing to the rising cost of living. The county is struggling to maintain police and fire services in the face of severe fiscal constraints. And ever-increasing vacancy rates across county government are putting a strain on the existing workforce providing vital services.

    During Carvalho’s tenure as mayor, Kauai County began transitioning to clean energy faster than anywhere else in the country. Investments in public transit and affordable housing improved Kauai’s quality of life. And his skill at building relationships and working together despite differences allowed the county to tackle problems quickly.

    Bottom line: Carvalho is ready to lead. Let’s put him back in office as the steady hand Kauai County needs during this turbulent time.

    -pau-

    Media Contacts:

    Malulani Moreno
    Communications Manager
    (808) 543-0024
    mmoreno@hgea.org

    Kristina Lum
    Senior Communications Specialist
    (808) 543-0063
    klum@hgea.org