The governor held a press conference this afternoon  and shared his thoughts on the contract rejected by Hawaii’s teachers Thursday.

He said he was calling on the union president, Wil Okabe, to present another proposal. He also said he wants to move as quickly as possible.

Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of the press conference was that the governor said Race to the Top criteria never had to be negotiated. The obvious question, which was never satisfactorily answered, is why then did the state race to come to an agreement with the union after the federal Department of Education said Hawaii was in danger of losing its $75 million grant?

Nothing seemed to happen between the time the governor imposed a new contract last July and when the feds said Hawaii could lose its funding late last year.

Our Katherine Poythress was at the press conference and will have a story soon.