The Hawaii State Teachers Association yesterday endorsed state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa in the May special election for the U.S. House.

"We believe Colleen Hanabusa has been very collaborative working with the HSTA," union president Wil Okabe said. "The community will see that her leadership style will be very beneficial to the state of Hawai'i."

The union's political action committee requested interviews from the three top candidates: Hanabusa, former U.S. Rep. Ed Case and Honolulu Councilman Charles Djou. Hanabusa and Case accepted the offer, Okabe said.

Okabe said the union believes Hanabusa will be beneficial in Congress when it comes to the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind. He said Hanabusa supports "fully funding" the mandate "to ensure students of a solid education and the tools necessary to lead full and productive lives."

Okabe also recognized Hanabusa in her role as senate president and her support for appropriating money to reduce or eliminate furloughs of public school teachers.