Question: What ever happened to the back pay that the state Department of Education was supposed to give substitute teachers? I thought the courts ruled that the substitute teachers had to be given the back pay.
Answer: Although more than 5,000 substitute teachers are owed what their attorneys peg to be in the range of $33 million in unpaid wages, it remains uncertain when they will receive any part of that money because of a continuing disagreement with the department about how much is actually due.
The dispute began in 2002 with a class-action lawsuit, and 10 years later is far from over.
Both sides are supposed to come up with what they believe is the amount the substitute teachers should be paid. If they cannot agree, the matter will end up back in court.
“We are very close to finalizing the damages owed to the substitutes — the ‘core claim,’” attorney Paul Alston, whose law firm represents the teachers, told us earlier this month.
The difficulty, he said, is that “there are hundreds of thousands of pay records and, for reasons that defy logical explanation, DOE’s records show people being paid anywhere from 28 cents an hour to literally thousands of dollars per hour. We had to figure out on a record-by-record basis what needed to be done to calculate the real amount paid and the real amount due. That’s taken a lot of time and money by accounting experts to sort through.”
Once the amount due is determined, Alston said they’ll then be “able to determine the interest owed on top of that.”
Beyond that there are also “a couple of collateral disputes” as to exactly what times the department has to pay for, such as whether summer school is included.
“Once we’ve identified the numbers, we’ll fight about the entitlement that’s still yet to be resolved,” Alston said.
The teachers’ position is that the initial settlement should be paid first, then the other issues, such as interest and summer school, should be tackled separately.
Alston said the DOE’s position is that every issue has to be decided before any payment is made.
We asked the department for a comment but have not received one after waiting more than two weeks.
Another battle involves about another 5,000 part-time teachers seeking about $50 million in back pay, Alston said. There is no settlement in that case.
For updates on both cases, see www.hawaiiclassaction.com/private/main.asp or contact the Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing law firm.
10th Avenue Signal
Palolo Neighborhood Board member Earl Shiraki was most interested in the April 24 “auwe” in “Kokua Line,” lamenting motorists driving out of Palolo Valley, turning left from 10th Avenue onto Waialae Avenue and not looking out for pedestrians crossing.
He knows about the frustration of motorists who often have to wait in a long line to make that turn, with some “trying to beat the cars” heading into Palolo Valley on 10th Avenue and endangering pedestrians. “That’s the reason that lady almost got hit,” Shiraki said. “I see that happening all the time.”
For almost four years he has been pushing for a left-turn signal from 10th to Waialae. He wants to let Kaimuki residents know that signal finally will be installed this summer, probably in July.
Mahalo
To a city bus driver for extending a lot of aloha. On April 19 an elderly couple walking near Aloha Tower waved down our bus to ask the driver a question. Although the bus was 200 yards from the next stop, the driver let them on and gave them instructions to get off near the federal courthouse, cross Ala Moana Boulevard and catch the No. 19 bus to their destination. The couple, who appeared to be tourists, had big smiles on their faces, and so did the driver. — Andy
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Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
