What is 3-1(g)? HSTA commits to diversity in leadership, member engagement

Kapolei Kiili, a Hawaiian language immersion teacher at King Kekaulike High School on Maui, learned the importance of speaking up and getting involved when she was tapped to become a Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association leader early in her career.

As Maui Chapter treasurer for seven years, Kiili learned the power of union work while recognizing gaps in HSTA’s advocacy. “I realized that there were actually not a lot of immersion teachers involved. There wasn’t very much within the union that spoke to those kinds of needs,” she said. “As I continued participating, I saw that as an avenue, a space where (kaiapuni) teachers could get together and have more support or voice into the challenges that we face through the union.”

Kiili, who is Native Hawaiian, Filipino, and Irish, continues to volunteer as an HSTA leader both in her chapter and on the state level with the HSTA Human and Civil Rights (HCR) Committee.

“I feel like it is very important to be involved as a member, because if we’re not the ones voicing our concerns, then no one really is,” she said.

NEA Bylaw 3-1(g) sets national benchmark

The need for diverse voices and representation prompted HSTA to review and rethink its approach to member engagement and leadership development. In 2021, union leaders and staff came together to reformulate HSTA’s implementation plan to meet the National Education Association Bylaw 3-1(g):

3. Representative Assembly
   1. Allocation of Delegates
      7. It is the policy of the Association to achieve ethnic-minority delegate representation at least equal to the proportion of identified ethnic-minority populations within the state.

This bylaw reflects a commitment made in 1966, when the NEA, then a national organization of predominantly white educators, and the American Teachers Association, made up of Black educators, voted to merge, elevating a longstanding tradition of continued advocacy for minority populations.

HSTA NEA Director Aaron Kubo said, “The merger was a step toward integration and desegregation. This legacy is important to remember where we came from and see how much further we still have to go.

“Oppression, prejudice, racism, and segregation still exist in this country,” Kubo, a social studies teacher at Hilo Intermediate, added. “Our 3-1(g) plan is one prong in a multipronged approach to tackle the societal tumor that is plaguing this country. The education profession is not immune to these issues.”

HSTA adopts union-wide diversity model

While the NEA bylaw specifies an annual national gathering, HSTA is committed to meeting its goal while reinforcing its fundamental tenets throughout the union itself — to establish race equity in all levels of the association and foster leadership that reflects all educators and students.

HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. said, “Having a 3-1(g) plan ensures that we are addressing the inclusivity of all members in our association and specifically giving space and voice to members who are often underrepresented because of their ethnicity. When members from these ethnic groups are given the opportunity to participate and their voices are uplifted, it gives the association more diverse perspectives to help address issues in our schools and communities.”

HSTA’s plan identifies various strategies and actions to foster increased engagement and leadership, including:

• Educating members on HSTA and NEA leadership opportunities.
• Fully funding NEA leadership development opportunities.
• Expanding racial and social justice training and practices.
• Tracking race/ethnicity representation through HSTA leadership roles and activities.
• Educating and acknowledging Hawaiʻi’s history, identity, and connection to ʻāina.

HSTA Human and Civil Rights Committee State Chair Jodi Kunimitsu, who also chairs the NEA Asian and Pacific Islander Caucus, said, “We’re not just trying to fill a quota; we want to ensure diverse perspectives and representation. There are so many opportunities that are available to members that they may not be aware of, from conferences to leadership and delegate positions, and how their participation is valued in these spaces.

“We are also highlighting opportunities for members to educate themselves and others on issues that pertain to achieving racial justice,” added Kunimitsu, a math teacher at Maui High School.

In one example, HSTA CARES (Culture, Advocacy, Respect, Equity, Support) training teams allow HSTA members from across the state to collaborate on professional development around racial and social justice issues in education and the classroom. The first team’s course on implicit bias was recently approved by the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education and will be offered through HSTA’s Professional Development program for PDE3 credit in the coming months.

Union leaders are also working to develop an opening protocol based on Native Hawaiian culture and values and includes a land acknowledgment for all HSTA meetings and events.

HSTA welcomes member participation, input

Members will start to see elements of the 3-1(g) plan roll out in additional ways over the coming years, and are encouraged to learn about these initiatives and participate whenever possible, including identifying their race and ethnicities when asked.

HSTA Kauaʻi Chapter President Sarah Tochiki, Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School band director and 3-1(g) team member, said, “Understanding the identities of our members allows for strength in our collective voice. We need to ensure the voices of ethnic minorities are heard in all of our work. Our lived experiences guide the work we do as a union.”

HSTA leaders say the more diverse our union, the better equipped we are to support our fellow educators, students, and communities.

HCR Committee State Chair Kunimitsu said, “Whenever someone has the opportunity to have a seat at the table and be a decision-maker and help direct where our education system goes and the kinds of initiatives that our leaders are taking, then we really do have a responsibility to be at that table, and we should take that opportunity, because that allows us to advocate in an even stronger way for students.”

HSTA NEA Director Kubo said, “Hawaiʻi is not immune to oppression, prejudice, and racism. If we can make Hawaiʻi a better place, to be free of intolerance, bigotry, stereotypes and hate, why not do so? We need to continually strive to be better and ever vigilant in this pursuit, not just for ourselves, but for all future generations that are to come.”

HSTA’s 3-1(g) plan was developed by President Osa Tui, Jr., Vice President Logan Okita, Secretary-Treasurer Lisa Morrison, NEA Director Aaron Kubo, Human and Civil Rights Committee State Chair Jodi Kunimitsu, Board Director Kelli Kaanaana, Kauaʻi Chapter President Sarah Tochiki, HSTA Governance Specialist Gwen Kurashima, and HSTA Communications Specialist Terri Inefuku, who also serves as HCR/CARES staff liaison.

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HSTA leaders explain importance of speaking up, getting involved

In our featured video, HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer Lisa Morrison, HCR State Chair Jodi Kunimitsu, and HCR Maui Chapter member Kapolei Kiili address the importance of representation. A transcript follows:

Aloha, everyone! My name is Kapolei Kiili. I am a Hawaiian language immersion teacher at King Kekaulike High School on Maui. I have been a public school teacher for 17 years.

Hi, my name is Jodi Kunimitsu. I am a math teacher at Maui High School. I am also the state chair of the HSTA Human and Civil Rights Committee and the chair of the NEA Asian and Pacific Islander Caucus.

My ethic background is Native Hawaiian, Filipino, and Irish. Growing up in public education in Hawaiʻi, I feel like I’m one of the brown kids that made it through while my own family members struggled, and so I kind of promised myself that in my role as a teacher, I would do everything in my power to not let students fall through the crack.

I am Japanese and I was born and raised on Kauaʻi. I graduated from Kauaʻi High School, and I also taught there for 10 years before I moved to Maui. Our culture is often looked at as one where especially women don’t speak up and their voices are often suppressed, and honestly, I’m far from that. And so I think it’s important that our students not just here in Hawaiʻi, but across the country who are Asian see that it’s okay to speak up and that there are spaces where you can be leaders.

The National Education Association 3-1(g) bylaw was implemented to ask states to send a delegation to the annual Representative Assembly that reflects the ethnic minority percentage in their home state. The leadership in the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association has decided to implement this goal organization-wide here in Hawaiʻi as well. This is vitally important because just like we know that students need to see educators in the classroom that reflect themselves, we believe that leadership and those positions within HSTA should also reflect the ethnic minority population in our state.

Representation does matter. I remember going through school as a student, I was in some of the upper classes, mathematics was my thing, so I was in calculus. But all my friends were Asian, but they didn’t have any idea of the struggles that I was going through as I was growing up in public housing with food stamps and things like that while they all had luxury items that I could only imagine. And so making sure that we have representatives, Polynesian representatives, Asian representatives, and the like who know those kinds of stories that our students, our communities go through is important and making sure that we have leaders that others can look up to is absolutely important.

If we’re not the ones voicing our concerns, then no one really is. This organization is here to support all teachers and kaiapuni teachers, you know, we’re part of the system, so I wanted to figure out ways to ensure that my union was also working for me.

We really do have a responsibility to be at that table, and we should take that opportunity, because that allows us to advocate in an even stronger way for our students.

We want to make sure that you’re represented, your voice is heard. There are seats at the table, and we want to make sure that you are able to take some of those seats. Don’t give them up to other people. Take your rightful seat at the table.