‘Without schools, communities cannot return after a disaster’

Teacher delegates from across the country voted overwhelmingly Thursday at the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly (NEA RA) to approve a new business item proposed by a Maui teacher that would help educate the public about the critical role that public schools play in the recovery of communities affected by natural disasters.

In front of nearly 7,000 educator colleagues from across the country, Lahainaluna High English Learner inclusion teacher and Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association Maui Chapter President Ashley Olson spoke on the floor Thursday to delegates at the annual NEA RA in Portland, Ore.

New Business Item (NBI) 41 says that the “NEA shall use existing resources to educate the public about the critical role that public schools play in the recovery of communities affected by natural disasters.”

Olson and her colleagues in Lahaina are still rebuilding after deadly wildfires ripped through the West Maui community in August 2023, nearly two years ago, killing more than 100 people and destroying King Kamehameha III Elementary School on Front Street.

Olson said, “Folks see the cost to rebuild buildings, but schools help to rebuild lives. Schools are about people and families, kids and families. Public schools go into hyperdrive after a disaster and provide the foundation upon which communities are rebuilt.

“But nearly all of what we support, we provide, it’s unrecognized, and without that recognition, understanding, and appreciation, funding goes away. Educators are the unsung heroes who bring a community back to life,” she said.

Olson has been a staunch supporter of educators, students, and the Lahaina community since the Maui wildfires, advocating on issues such as educator and student mental health supports, requesting the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education establish a fire relief leave bank for teachers affected by the disaster, and she even offered up her own home for displaced teachers after the fires.

During her speech on the RA floor, Olson said, “In the last couple of years, dozens of communities have been decimated by disasters […] Everywhere we turn, funding streams are being annihilated, FEMA, the Department of Education, and so many more, and those are funds that schools and communities depend upon. Without schools, communities cannot return after a disaster, and without families, you don’t have a community.”

About NEA RA

Every summer, thousands of educators from around the country meet at the National Education Association Representative Assembly to debate and vote on vital issues that impact public education and set NEA policy and activities for the year ahead.

This year, NEA RA is taking place in Portland, Ore., with almost 7,000 educators from every state in attendance. Click here for the latest updates for this year’s RA. The NEA is the largest union in the country, and the RA is the world’s largest democratic deliberative assembly.

Featured image: Ashley Olson (middle) stands with her colleagues from HSTA at the NEA RA in Portland, Ore.