New HSTA president
Takabayashi feels
fortunate in victoryThe new union leader
is a former shop teacher
A former shop and physical education teacher unseated Karen Ginoza yesterday in a runoff election for the leadership of the 13,000-member Hawaii State Teachers Association.
Roger Takabayashi, 55, who works at Dole Middle School, ran an e-mail campaign to successfully beat Ginoza by a vote of 3,162 to 1,658.
"I feel lucky. Maybe I should go to Vegas now," joked Takabayashi moments after learning he had won 65.6 percent of the votes cast.
The soft-spoken Takabayashi, who once served as HSTA vice president and lost against Ginoza in the 2000 election, said: "I want to be collaborative and more open (than Ginoza). I think that's what the teachers want, so that's what we are going to try. We want to be a player in the improvement of public education in this state."
Takabayashi said he was not making empty promises. He said: "I want to be open. I am willing to meet and talk to anyone, any time, anywhere. I will make the best effort that I can to get out and meet the teachers."
His term begins July 8.
Takabayashi, who started his teaching career at Niu Valley Middle School in 1970 where he taught industrial arts, is now a student-services coordinator at Dole. Created by the Felix consent degree, Takabayashi's job is to ensure that all students, including special-needs children, get the services they need in a timely manner.
Ginoza congratulated Takabayashi on his victory yesterday and said, "I wish him well, and I will make sure there will be a smooth transition as he moves into the presidency."
Reflecting on her defeat, Ginoza said: "People say they want change. And teachers today are facing tremendous pressures in the schools. They want change and let's leave it at that."
Ginoza, 56, who took over the presidency in July 1998, steered the union through a bitter three-week strike in April 2001 and tough negotiations for the next contract.
Ginoza said: "I have taken the teachers through a very difficult time: the strike, current contract negotiations and legislative battles. I have learned a lot."
The strike and the current negotiations were her undoing, said critics.
Takabayashi acknowledged that many teachers may have voted more against Ginoza than for him because they disagreed with the strike and the progress of current negotiations.
Takabayashi said, "The strike wasn't necessary given what was on the table and then what we got after being on the line for three weeks."
HSTA won raises of about 16 percent, bringing the average teacher salary up to $45,600 by the end of the two-year contract.
Takabayashi said the strike did have one strong benefit: "It brought teachers together so they could meet other teachers and even co-workers they had never met. There was some good bonding done during the strike."
Ginoza, who formerly taught special education and most recently taught fourth grade at the Royal Elementary School, was seeking her third term as president. She served a two-year term and then was elected in 2000 to a three-year term. The HSTA limits the president to two three-year terms.
Ginoza's tenure looked shaky last month after Takabayashi received 43 percent of the votes cast to her 41 percent in a three-way election. Takabayashi received 1,591 votes to Ginoza's 1,493 votes in the mail-in election. A third challenger, Albert Ferreira, a social studies teacher at Hilo High School, garnered 579 votes and swung his support behind Takabayashi.
After losing the mail-in election, Ginoza took a week-long vacation in early May to campaign. By contrast, Takabayashi said he had the flu and a fever and found campaigning difficult. He said his campaign was based on the help of a core group and the teachers at Dole who helped by sending e-mails.
Yesterday, Ginoza, who began her teaching career in 1968, said she hoped to go back to the classroom and, if possible, to teach special education again at the Royal School.