State officials who initialed concurrence with the Hawai’i State Teachers Association contract in April and agreed to pay certain teachers an $1,100 bonus by July 5 haven’t kept their word, teachers say. “We’re not going to take this lying down,”
State officials who initialed concurrence with the Hawai’i State Teachers Association contract in April and agreed to pay certain teachers an $1,100 bonus by July 5 haven’t kept their word, teachers say.
“We’re not going to take this lying down,” said Tom Perry, the HSTA’s Kaua’i representative. “It’s very frustrating for teachers. We did everything right. We went through the process with all the folks, the DOE (Department of Education) and the negotiators.”
Gov. Ben Cayetano said last Thursday the agreement calls for 3 percent bonuses to be paid for one year, costing the state $6.7 million.
But the union is arguing that the bonuses for teachers with advanced or professional degrees will amount to $20 million.
“It was pretty clear to me what we were talking about was one year and $6.7 million, nowhere close to the $20 million they are talking about,” Cayetano told the Associated Press.
Perry countered that for state negotiators to “put their initials next to everything, and then to come back and renege on their promises” is unconscionable.
“Teachers are extremely frustrated. It’s affecting their ability to go on vacations this summer,” Perry said. “They wanted to get their $1,100 July 5, and it’s just a real shame that it’s affecting the ability to attract and retain these very basic things that teachers on the mainland have grown accustomed to. So it’s a real sad situation. And we are going to do everything in our power” to get the teachers their agreed-upon raises and bonuses from the state.
“We don’t want to have to go to the Hawai’i Labor Relations Board or the First Circuit Court yet. We’re trying to get this settled,” he said. “We’re still very close.”
HSTA officials are also threatening another teachers strike if the matter is not settled. A three-week strike in April led to the contract settlement.
If a protest or court challenge is lodged, all negotiations would cease until a decision is issued by a judge or ruling body, Perry continued.
HSTA is encouraging teachers and the public to urge state negotiator Davis Yogi and state Board of Education members to abide by the agreement and pay the bonuses.
“People just can’t understand how Davis Yogi can come back from vacation and just renege, because we had information that it was all taken care of. And then they come back and say, ‘Nope, nope, we’re not agreeing to this,'” Perry said.
“We just can’t believe that they would do that,” he said. “Teachers are just so angry. They went through the strike, and it was the hardest thing that they’ve ever done in their lives, and now, all of a sudden, they do this to teachers.”
Pam McMillan, a teacher at Kaua’i High School the past 11 years, could be making $10,000 more a year teaching in her home state of Washington, where she taught before and holds credentials to teach still.
Here, she must teach summer school out of economic necessity, she said Friday.
“It just is a crime when you have dedicated professionals on the job who are truly certified in their field” and they’re not getting adequately compensated, McMillan said.
With her Washington credentials, she could qualify for signing bonuses of $6,000 or other enticements from schools in other states, she said.
“I think the concern is, at least for teachers that I have had a chance to talk with, is that we’re kind of dispersed now,” she said. “We aren’t in force,” due to summer vacation, “and this is such an easy time for the state and Yogi and all the negotiators to sit back and not really keep this moving.”
A strike probably wouldn’t be called during the current summer-school session, in which teachers such as McMillan get paid less than they do during the regular school year, she said.
Meanwhile, on Cayetano’s state Web site, the April strike and education issues are discussed in a question-and-answer format:
“Question: Will the Cayetano administration continue to make education its highest priority?
“Answer: Yes. We will continue to allocate nearly 50 percent of all state resources to lower and higher education, maintain the progress we’ve made in raising teacher salaries, persist in our effort to build highly skilled teachers, continue to improve schools, and push for the advancement of new technology and learning materials.”
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
