As Hawaii’s teachers enter the second week of closing down the state’s entire public education system, officials on all sides say they are relatively happy with the behavior of those on the picket lines.
Compared to the University of Hawaii’s Manoa campus, where more than one faculty member has reportedly been hit by passing motorists, Kauai’s striking teachers have had it easy, said Wilfred Ihu, deputy chief for the Kaua’i County Police Department.
The most tumultuous of picket lines here has been at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School, where Ihu said a husband and wife team has been reporting to work, thus incurring the wrath of their peers.
“Several officers have been used to escort them to and from the school,” he said. “But that has been the most dramatic.”
With 13 officers assigned to daily strike duty — at an estimated cost of nearly $4,000 per day — Ihu said the department’s five days of managing the strike has allowed him to better decide which campuses require more officers.
The department’s original plans of positioning more officers at schools near high-traffic areas has worked well, Ihu said, and the only difference will be sending officers from schools with little picketing disturbances to those with larger numbers.
“We’ve beefed up where a lot of teachers have been picketing, and scaled down from schools such as Kalaheo or ‘Ele’ele,” he said.
Large schools such as Waimea High School pose the most trouble to officers because of the multiple campus entrances, Ihu said. The best solution so far has been the highly maneuverable and quick bicycle used by several officers.
“There are so many ways to get into those schools,” he said. Bicycle-mounted officers “can go from one side to another very quickly.”
As the state Department of Education slowly attempts to reopen schools on a location-by-location basis, spokesman Greg Knudsen said, the behavior of picketers is not a factor in which schools are chosen — which has been only Ni’ihau School through Wednesday.
“Overall , conditions have been pretty cooperative,” he said. “And that’s not something we’ve been looking at.”
After culling strike instructions from several sources, compiling them into a manual and having it reviewed by lawyers, Joan Husted, executive director of the Hawai’i State Teachers Association, said strike captains in charge of picketing at each of the state’s schools undergo at least six hours of training before they pass on the knowledge to their fellow teachers.
The orientation sessions for the group leaders cover a wide variety of subjects, Husted said, including what a picket line can do, police power and teacher wellness. The training duties were led by current and former HSTA members, as well as officials from the National Education Association.
“Those people are responsible for briefing their picketers on that conduct,” she said. “So we do all we can to help equip them with the knowledge they need.”
If a situation occurs where a strike captain does not know what to do, Husted said the union has created a hotline to connect the leader with administrators at HSTA.
“Then we get back to the picket captains and tell them what’s possible and what’s not possible,” she said.
The University of Hawai’i Professional Assembly also used members of the NEA for its strike training, which took place late last month, said UHPA executive director J.N. Musto.
Aided by UH professors who specialize in labor disputes, Musto said the faculty training has led to peaceful picketing at Kaua’i Community College and the nine other UH campuses.
“The community colleges are performing better than we even expected,” he said.
Across the university system, UH spokesman Jim Manke said picketers have become less aggressive with students and faculty members as the strike has progressed.
“There was a period early on when we were getting complaints from students (about activities) that bordered on harassment as they entered various campuses,” he said. “But things seem to have mellowed out recently.”
Rather than close all its schools like the Department of Education, Manke said the UH system has managed to continue with 19 percent of its courses, with the Manoa campus offering 30 percent.
Community colleges, Manke said, are holding an average of 10 percent of classes, with KCC offering 5 percent.
Husted said union members were behaving themselves, even in the face of their peers crossing the picket line. By doing so, she said, HSTA members hope to maintain the community’s assistance throughout the strike.
“We want to make sure we keep the public support,” she said. “You do that best by following the law and doing things properly.”
In addition to supervising those walking the picket line, Ihu said police officers are responsible for ensuring safe driving as motorists enter school campuses. He noted vehicles can pose a threat to the drivers as well as those on the street.
Ihu said drivers who are delayed from entering a campus because of picketers should wait until there is an opening or an officer intervenes.
“We’re telling them to be patient,” he said.
Even then, Ihu said, motorists should drive slowly as they progress into the area. Failure to do so, or the violation of any other traffic laws, could land a driver with a citation or two.
“But that hasn’t happened yet,” Ihu said.
Staff writer Matt Smylie can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 226) and mailto:msmylie@pulitzer.net
