The longtime state lawmaker is a strong supporter and product of Hawaii’s public schools

The Hawaii State Teachers Association is excited to announce our support for Sylvia Luke’s campaign for lieutenant governor. Arriving in Hawaii as an immigrant who spoke no English as a little girl, Sylvia attributes her success in part to her public school teachers. After graduating from public schools, she became a successful lawyer and has represented the Makiki, Punchbowl and Nuuanu areas in the state House, where she has chaired the important House Finance Committee since 2013.

“Sylvia has always supported public schools just as they supported her, and her priorities include looking to take care of our youngest keiki, making sure school facility funds actually get used and don’t go to waste, and ensuring the wellbeing of our teachers, especially with the need for affordable teacher housing,” said HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. “Sylvia is a go-getter who puts her mind to things and gets them done.”

The HSTA announced the recommendation at a news conference Saturday afternoon at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Makiki, where Luke went to school. View the event on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.

“I was once a student here at Lincoln Elementary and I graduated from Roosevelt High School, which is right across the street, so I know firsthand about the issues and opportunities our school system and our public school teachers face. I also know how hard public school teachers work to create a positive learning environment for students,” said Sylvia Luke, lieutenant governor candidate. “When public educators feel valued and supported with resources to be successful, their students benefit from it. This is why I have been a longtime advocate for public education and why I’ve made education one of the important platforms in my campaign.”

HSTA recommends candidates who are strong supporters of public education, our educators, labor, and are committed to creating a better future for our keiki.

HSTA sent out questionnaires to candidates in January and HSTA’s Government Relations Committee (GRC) interviewed them in February. The committee is made up of volunteer member leaders from each of HSTA’s 12 chapters across the state of Hawaii. Based on those responses and the interviews, the GRC recommended Sylvia to the HSTA Board of Directors, which made a final decision to support her in the lieutenant governor’s race.

Sylvia is an effective advocate for educators, public schools

Sylvia has been a strong supporter of public education and educators. Whether it was protecting teachers’ earned salaries against the threat of furloughs, increasing preschool education opportunities, or expediting classroom and school construction, she has a record of standing with teachers.

This legislative session, Sylvia has introduced several bills that build on her prior support of education:

One of the four key pillars of Sylvia’s campaign for lieutenant governor is educational equity, which reads, “Hawai’iʻs unique statewide educational system was intended to make sure that all of our keiki, regardless of background or affluence, have equal access to K-12 education. Creating true educational equity requires a much broader systemic approach, including universal access to preschool, teacher retention initiatives, and college scholarship support.”

In this video, Sylvia Luke highlights important educational initiatives while addressing why she’s running for lieutenant governor.

A public school graduate, she remembers how an elementary teacher took extra time to teach her English

When Sylvia arrived in Hawaii with her family from South Korea, she was nine years old and could not speak English. In this brief video clip, Sylvia fondly recalls how a teacher patiently took extra time and taught her to speak English. She understands the importance of teachers from her own life experiences.

A product of the public education system, Sylvia attended Kaahumanu Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, Kawananakoa Middle and graduated from Roosevelt High School. While she was a senior at Roosevelt, she began independent studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which helped her win scholarships that financed her college education there. That experience instilled in her a belief in the concept of early college, which allows high school students to take college courses and gain college credit while doing so.

Learn more about Sylvia on her campaign website and in this video narrated by her son, Logan.

Sylvia listens, understands the issues and takes action

In a public service career that has spanned more than 20 years, Sylvia has shown that she listens to people, understands the issues and takes action to improve the lives of Hawaii’s citizens. For the last decade, she has chaired the House Finance Committee, which oversees the state budget and defines key spending priorities. She has developed a strong reputation of bringing transparency and accountability to the state budget.

Sylvia does her homework. A January 2019 Civil Beat piece highlighted how she tries “to know more than them” when it comes to keeping state department heads on their toes during budget season. She also targeted special funds that were being used to hide public monies with little to no accountability.

When the pandemic first hit, unemployment claims skyrocketed without the personnel to handle them. Sylvia was instrumental in analyzing the situation, recognizing that thousands were hurting without sufficient action to help them, and taking charge to get an unemployment processing center running in just three days at the Hawaii Convention Center with the help of volunteers from HSTA, HGEA, and UHPA.

HSTA President Osa Tui Jr. said Sylvia has “used her tenacity and attention to detail to ferret out waste in government spending and pushed for greater accountability regarding how public monies are allocated and spent. A strong advocate of Hawaii’s public schools, public school educators, and our keiki, Sylvia wants to ensure that all children have the opportunity to rise from whatever their circumstances to do great things. In concert with our next governor, Sylvia will use her knowledge, determination, and empathy to get us even closer to the schools our keiki deserve!”

How you can support Sylvia Luke’s LG campaign

The HSTA strongly recommends you to vote for Sylvia Luke for lieutenant governor in the August primary election. Please encourage your friends and family to join all of us in supporting her campaign.

During the months ahead, we will ask our members to show their support for Sylvia by volunteering at various campaign events, such as sign waving. If you would be willing to put up a campaign sign at your home or have family and friends who would be interested in doing the same, please fill out this form so that we can get signs distributed to you!