Hawaii state Sen. Jill Tokuda, chairwoman of the education committee, received a “Champion for Charters” award this evening for her leadership on local efforts to improve charter school governance and accountability. 

Tokuda was one of several elected federal, state and local politicians — including US. Sen. Mark Kirk, U.S. Rep. George Miller and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — to receive the award from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.  

Tokuda, who chairs a task force charged with reforming Hawaii’s charter schools, is credited with increasing the ranking of Hawaii’s charter school law from 35th in 2012 to 14th in 2013. 

Both U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono and U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard congratulated Tokuda on the award, praising her commitment to enhancing educational opportunity in the state and transforming Hawaii’s charter school landscape. 

Read Civil Beat’s preview of this year’s charter school legislation, much of which was drafted and introduced by Tokuda: Quiz Time: Will Hawaii Lawmakers Pass the Charter Schools Test?

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Photo: Tulsi Gabbard and Jill Tokuda discuss Tokuda’s award. (Courtesy of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard)

— Alia Wong

Alia Wong previously covered education news for Civil Beat. A Honolulu native, Alia returned to the islands in May 2012 after graduating from Boston University with degrees in journalism and Latin American studies. Alia was a longtime intern at Civil Beat before landing her position as a reporter-host....