Schoolteachers hui bargains with state

The union representing Hawaii public school teachers hopes to strike a deal with the state within the next week for additional compensation for its 13,000 members.

Negotiation teams for the Hawaii State Teachers Association and the state have met three times over the past month and need to reach an agreement in the "next week or so" in order for any increases to be funded by the Legislature this session, said HSTA Vice President Joan Lewis, who is on the union’s negotiating team.

The union is seeking added compensation for the remaining two years of the teachers’ existing labor contract.

"We’ve had comprehensive meetings. At this point we are not scheduled for another meeting. Everybody is standing by," Lewis told the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser.

Department of Education Superintendent Kathryn Mata­yo­shi declined to comment on negotiations last week, other than to say that the employer team — which includes representatives from her office, the Governor’s Office and the Board of Education — wants to ensure any agreement can be funded before the Legislature adjourns May 7.

HSTA’s 2013-17 contract, with an initial $330 million price tag, restored a 5 percent pay cut made in 2009, and includes annual salary boosts of at least 3 percent through a combination of across-the-board increases and pay grade step-ups in alternating years.

Under the contract, a qualified, licensed teacher with a bachelor’s degree earns a starting salary of $44,538 this school year, while the highest salary is capped at $81,703.

HSTA secured a so-called "reopener clause" allowing it to seek additional compensation, including higher pay and benefits, for teachers after completing a salary study to help inform discussions.

It’s unclear what the union is specifically seeking, but the parties have agreed to use the salary study as a base line for the negotiations.

Beyond pay, the existing contract prescribes a seven-hour workday along with up to 18 sick-leave days, 13 holidays, two weeks off for winter recess and one week off for spring recess during the 10-month school year.

Teachers also receive retirement benefits and have 60 percent of their health premiums covered by the state — a benefits package the salary study called "robust."

The study — which was paid for jointly by the union and the Department of Education and conducted by Denver-based APA Consulting — found Hawaii’s starting salary to be "competitive" when compared with 12 school districts that have similar student body sizes and percentages of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. It included school districts in Northern Cali­for­nia, Nevada, Texas, Florida, Maryland and Virginia.

Hawaii’s minimum starting salary of $44,538 is higher than the $40,723 earned on average in the 12 comparison districts.

The study noted that Hawaii teachers face a high cost of living but concluded that even when salaries are adjusted for workload and "geographic cost differences," Hawaii’s rates are "very competitive at the early levels of teaching."

But the study found Hawaii’s salary schedule is structured in a way that newer teachers aren’t incentivized to stay for a long time.

"Younger teachers remain in the first three steps of the salary schedule for a large portion of their careers," the study said. "Salaries become somewhat less competitive as experience and education increase."

Roughly 7 percent of DOE teachers left their jobs during the 2013-14 school year, which ended last summer. Nearly two-thirds of those who left resigned; 40 percent retired.

The salary study recommended the state look at expanding stipends, such as its bonuses for teachers who work at hard-to-staff schools, to improve retention.

"One possibility to examine is the use of stipends to retain younger teachers around the time they would leave teaching or leave Hawaii," the study said.

Union officials say the salary study highlights a need to address turnover in ways beyond just base pay.

"One of the things that was pointed out to us was, ‘It’s your middle of your pack. There’s a stagnation, where they’re not seeing hope for movement that they might see in other states,’" Lewis said last week during a Star-Advertiser editorial board meeting. "We are not saying that our beginning teachers don’t matter. What we’re saying is the study tells us the salary is not the issue for them."

HSTA President Wil Okabe recently told lawmakers that the union maintains teacher salaries "should be based on preparation, academic degrees, experience, professional growth, responsibilities and full length of service," adding that national certifications should also command additional pay.

Okabe was testifying in support of a bill that would authorize and fund collective-bargaining cost items should the union reach a pact. The bill cleared the labor and money committees in both chambers, but the unknown appropriation amounts are blank.

Some teachers have been critical of the salary study because it didn’t more closely examine districts with high costs of living.

A recent report by the National Council on Teacher Quality ranked Hawaii No. 124 out of 125 school districts for earnings over a 30-year teaching career, when adjusted for cost of living. The report said Hawaii’s $43,759 starting salary (for the 2013-14 school year), when adjusted for the cost of living, amounted to $25,879.

Hawaii’s starting salary without adjusting for cost of living ranked No. 27 out of the 125 school districts, ranking higher than the starting salaries of teachers in Seattle, San Diego and Pittsburgh.

Overall, the average elementary teacher in Hawaii — regardless of years of service — earns $54,690 a year, slightly less than the national average of $56,830, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Secondary teachers here make $55,530, on average, compared with $59,330 nationally.

Science teacher Vianney Kang, who was recruited from San Diego last month as an "emergency hire" to teach at Campbell High School, expects he’ll be earning $5,000 to $10,000 less in Hawaii.

Kang, who grew up in Hawaii, holds undergraduate degrees in biology and chemistry from the University of Hawaii and a master’s in chemistry from the University of Cali­for­nia at Irvine.

"I didn’t look at the salary schedule because I was aware that I’d get hit on cost of living and a lower salary," Kang said. "I knew that ahead of time, but I was willing to make that sacrifice to be back home."