Have you checked out The Hot Seat? It's our opinion-page blog that brings in your elected leaders and people in the news and lets you ask the questions during a live online chat.

On the Hot Seat last week was Hawai'i State Teachers Association President Roger Takabayashi.

Below is an excerpt from that Hot Seat session.

Nancy Morgan: Why is the HSTA opposed to random drug testing for its members?

Roger Takabayashi: HSTA wants a safe and drug-free school, but we also believe in civil and human rights. The association believes it would be wrong to violate the civil rights of thousands of employees to find the guilty few. However, we are aggressively pursuing the issue of drug testing in negotiations. I am confident we can work out contractual provisions with the DOE to ensure that the schools are drug-free.

Lora: I am a charter school teacher. Please explain why HSTA — our union too! — has such a poor record on supporting the needs of charter schools and charter school teachers. For instance, teachers in my school have been waiting more than eight months for HSTA to return our contract, which our school properly negotiated. And why the "adamant opposition" to allowing an alternative to the BOE oversight of charter schools? More than 20 percent of students in my school have one or two parents who work for the DOE. There is a reason they choose charter!

Takabayashi: Please tell me what charter school you're from because I'm not aware of any eight-month delay on contracts. We have no reason to hold back any charter school contract, and I know of none that has been held back. On this issue of oversight: On SB603, HSTA took the position of opposing this bill because portions of it would be unconstitutional. We do support certain portions, such as providing facilities for the charters.

Craig: Is the HSTA up for salary negotiations this year? What is the proposed contract for 2007-2009?

Takabayashi: Yes, we are currently in negotiations for 2007-09. Teachers were given the preliminary schedule of what is being negotiated. First year, 12 percent and step movement; second year, 16 percent and step movement. It's much more complex, but that's the simple answer. This would achieve the board of directors' directive of $45,000 starting pay for teachers, $60,000 as average, and $100,000 for most senior teachers.

Jill & Natty Prescott: For over 35 years, solutions to the problem created by HSTA of tenured teachers leaving disadvantaged areas have been Band-Aid failures. Everyone agrees this privilege negatively impacts student success in learning, with many becoming dependents of the state. What is HSTA doing about it? Have you thought about teacher rotation to make it fair for all teachers and students? What about using all schools to give a probationary experience before making the position available to a tenured (both teachers would exchange positions)?

Takabayashi: I have participated in the past three negotiations. During that time, HSTA has advocated for financial rewards for teachers in areas that are hard to fill and hard to staff. These monetary incentives encourage teachers to remain in those areas. This proposal was not accepted by the employer for the Wai'anae and Nanakuli complex areas. However, we are working on other fronts to improve the situation. We are supporting the Wai'anae High School project to recruit and retain teachers. They have received a $1 million grant from the federal government to fund this project, and we will continue to propose incentives to those who work in that area. Additionally, we supported the Teach for America project to help the shortage in that area.

Chris: Why are people with education degrees given such huge preference over people who are experts in a particular subject? Shouldn't we facilitate the transition as much as possible instead of throwing up a lot of requirements? If a medical doctor wanted to teach an anatomy class, why should they have to pass years of teaching courses? The kids deserve experts and not vacancies or recently certified "education" majors.

Takabayashi: The entry to teaching is controlled by the Hawai'i Teachers Standards Board. That being said, content knowledge is very important, but it's only one factor. The ability to connect, communicate, create enthusiasm about school, and to have students engaged in activities are just as important, or, one might say, the love of content is equally important as the love of teaching children.

Bob: What are your thoughts on the large number of students who attend private schools here in Hawai'i? How do we compare to the rest of the nation?

Takabayashi: Hawai'i has approximately 20 percent who go to private schools. The rest of the nation has approximately 10 percent attending private schools. Private schools take away all our role models. In order to get to a private school, you have to pass an exam, so basically they're taking all the role models from our public schools. But yet they don't take special education children, ESL children, and generally speaking, private schools spend more money on educating the children than the public schools do.