About 55 percent of Hawaii’s 12,500 public school teachers participated in a vote last month to approve a contract proposal that teachers previously rejected, union officials announced Thursday.
The turnout was smaller than the approximately 9,000 teachers who voted on the agreement in January.
The governor has said the previously rejected proposal is not valid, and has urged the teachers union to return to the bargaining table.
No talks are scheduled.
Hawaii State Teachers Association President Wil Okabe said the union is awaiting the governor’s formal response to the vote last month.
"We cannot speculate how long it’s going to take," he said, adding that the deal is "in the best interest of the communities we live in."
The union has said it asked teachers to reconsider the proposal in an effort to preserve the state’s $75 million Race to the Top grant. The federal grant is at risk of being lost because of a lack of progress on a number of key initiatives.
Under the deal, Hawaii teachers would continue to take 5 percent wage reductions through June 30, 2013, before moving to a new salary schedule recognizing their years of service.
The Department of Education would also move to a revised teacher evaluation system linked to student performance. Teachers rated "effective" or higher would be eligible for annual raises.
The HSTA released the voting turnout figures Saturday, after the union’s board certified them.
Voting occurred May 17-22.
On May 23 the union announced that 66 percent of teachers had voted to support the agreement. The results were a reversal of the vote in January, when 67 percent of teachers rejected the deal.
In all, 6,819 members participated in the vote, which occurred online or over the phone, HSTA said.
