The Hawaii Department of Education sent out a press release this afternoon telling us essentially what Gov. Neil Abercrombie told us yesterday: Hawaii plans to move forward with teacher evaluations, regardless of whether the teachers union is on board.

Included are some quotes from state-level officials in the department encouraging everyone to reconsider their preconceived notions about teacher evaluations.

“We know this will not be easy,” said Stephen Schatz, assistant superintendent for the Office of Strategic Reform. “It requires many of us to rethink our fundamental assumptions about the purpose of a teacher evaluation system.” 

“We truly believe that this system, if implemented properly, will help all of our teachers to improve and grow,” explained deputy superintendent Ronn Nozoe. 

 It also includes a link to a video of Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi’s statements regarding teachers’ vote on the contract last week.

Superintendent’s Message regarding HSTA ratification vote from Hawaii DOE – Video Technology on Vimeo.

Read the full release.