Civil Beat received this response from former Gov. Ben Cayetano to its story on the 2001 teachers strike.

Here’s what the 2001 strike boiled down to: HSTA demanded a 4 year $240 million contract. The stated offered a 2 year $98 million contract. HSTA went on strike and was joined by UHPA effectively closing down the state’s entire public education system. UHPA settled after two weeks. In calling for a strike less than two months before the end of school — HSTA tried to leverage the best interests of public school children, particularly high school seniors about to graduate, against its own special interests. It did not work. After a 20 day strike, HSTA agreed to a 2 year $113 million contract — of which only $111 million was a recurring costs as $2 million was paid to teachers as one-time bonuses. It will be a long time before the striking teachers earn back what they lost during the strike. Looking back, the strikers and the public should ask themselves “was the 2001 strike worth it?”

Al Shanker, the late, revered leader of the AFT (American Federation of Teachers) once famously said “When school children start paying union dues, that’s when I’ll start looking after the interests of school children.” As Governor Abercrombie is now learning — this mindset too often is the biggest obstacle to the much needed reform of public education.

Ben Cayetano