New UniServ director brings legal, education experience to teachers union

Jorge Ochoa discovered his affinity for advocacy at an early age thanks to his mother, who is from Western Samoa, and his father, who hails from Ecuador.

“When you have immigrant parents, you have to help them read and fill out things for them,” he said, “and growing up, my parents really wanted to make sure that my siblings and I had a voice, that we stood up for ourselves, and that we stood up for others.”

Ochoa is eager to carry out those same practices in his new role as a UniServ director at the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association, focusing on advocacy for the union’s Honolulu and Leeward chapters. His first day was Aug. 1.

The power of prayer

Born and raised in Hawaiʻi, Ochoa attended Pearl City Elementary and graduated from Damien Memorial School. He received a bachelor of arts from Pace University in New York in language, culture and world trade before returning to Hawai’i.

“My parents wanted me to come home and live here, even though I really want to live in New York, and so I just took any job, and it turned out to be teaching,” he said.

Ochoa taught physical education, math and science at St. Michael School in Waialua. Although teaching wasn’t his first passion, he was a natural at it.

“My principal was a nun, and she was like, ‘You should continue teaching,’” Ochoa recalled, “and I was like, ‘I never wanted to be a teacher.’ And she’s like, ‘I’m going to pray for you.’ I said, ‘You are wasting your time. Don’t pray for me.’”

Little did he know then, her prayers would be answered.

Embracing an empire state of mind

In 2002, Ochoa returned to New York to attend the City University of New York School of Law, a public interest law school that taught him how to use law as a tool for social good.

“I loved it because I was surrounded by activists and advocates,” he said. “The lawyers that come out of that law school really look to help people that are either underrepresented, marginalized. It’s really about advocacy.”

While at CUNY, Ochoa completed a summer externship at the National Labor Relations Board, where he learned about workers rights, such as the Weingarten rights, which protect unionized employees’ right to request a representative during an interview that the employee reasonably believes could lead to discipline.

“It was a great experience. They really threw me in,” he said.

Ochoa felt the pull of home and moved back to Hawaiʻi in 2007. He taught at various Catholic schools on Oʻahu with a plan to study for the bar exam during school breaks.

While his plan never came to fruition — “I’d be so exhausted, by the time I got to a break, I just wanted to decompress. I wanted to relax. I wanted to travel” — his career in education flourished. Ochoa settled at Island Pacific Academy in Kapolei where, over the course of 10 years, he served as a math teacher, department head and faculty liaison, and ultimately secondary vice principal with two stints as acting principal.

Then the pandemic hit.

“I couldn’t hang out with people. I couldn’t travel. And so I was like, I’m going to study for the bar, and that’s basically what kept me busy,” Ochoa said. “So I studied for the bar, I took it in September 2021, and I passed.”

‘If we take care of our teachers, then we take care of our students.’

Ochoa says he’s excited to combine his education and legal experience in his new role at HSTA.

“As a school administrator, I advocated for students and teachers, but I missed fully using my legal expertise in analyzing situations, interpreting language precisely, and crafting effective arguments,” he said. “Becoming an advocacy UniServ director allows me to directly represent teachers, knowing that when they are supported, students ultimately benefit as well.”

This won’t be the first time Ochoa’s advocated for educators. In his dual role as department head and faculty liaison at Island Pacific Academy, he worked closely with colleagues and administrators to resolve workplace issues.

Ochoa says his experience at the academy underscored the importance of creating an environment where both faculty and students have opportunities to share feedback and propose solutions.

“This input is crucial for administrations to consider as they make decisions that ultimately impact both teachers and students,” especially when it comes to programs or initiatives like new courses and the bell schedule, Ochoa said.

“If we take care of our teachers, then we take care of our students, and that’s really the end goal,” he said.