Teacher pay differential plan comes under fire by lawmakers

A bold move by the schools superintendent and Board of Education to give a big boost in pay to teachers in hard-to-staff positions — even before lawmakers appropriated the funds — came under fire Tuesday at the Legislature.

House Finance Chairwoman Sylvia Luke lambasted the decision, saying it had worsened relations between the Legislature and the executive branch. She and others legislators also questioned whether “throwing money at the problem” would be effective in combating the teacher shortage.

“Did you do an analysis … that this amount is the right amount … an evidence- based analysis of how more money is going to actually result in more recruitment and retention?” Luke asked education officials at a budget briefing.

“You do understand the concern that this has kind of hurt the relations between the executive and the legislative branch,” Luke added. “It leads to further distrust. Basically, the executive branch made an announcement, and then the Legislature, which is the funding branch, finds out after the fact.”

The proposal, unveiled Dec. 3 at a news conference by Gov. David Ige and education officials, calls for shortage “pay differentials” of $10,000 a year for licensed special-education teachers, $8,000 for Hawaiian immersion teachers and $3,000 to $8,000 for teachers in hard-to-staff areas, depending on the severity of the shortage.

At Tuesday’s budget briefing, schools Superintendent Christina Kishimoto and Board of Education Chairwoman Catherine Payne told legislators that they decided to take action right away to combat what they called a crisis in recruiting and retaining qualified teachers.

“I think the data surely shows that doing nothing is going to get us exactly what we have had,” Kishimoto said. “We’ve had a very long-standing issue with competitive pay and the teacher shortage.”

The pay increases took effect Jan. 7 in hopes of influencing teachers as they make decisions during the transfer period starting in February about where — or whether — to teach in the next school year. School officials said previous pay differentials for hard-to-staff areas for amounts up to $3,000 had helped, but more was needed.

Payne, a retired veteran principal, objected to the term “throwing money” and described the pay differentials as an investment.

“There’s a risk but it’s a calculated risk,” Payne said. “We very much know that we are bleeding teachers especially in these crisis areas at a rate that we cannot sustain. I am confident that it’s going to show during this period of transfer and through this investment that we’re making … that it’s going to make a difference.”

The Department of Education is asking the Legislature to appropriate $10.5 million to cover those pay differentials for the rest of this fiscal year and another $26.5 million for the 2020-21 fiscal year that starts July 1.

But legislators were wary.

“Do we really know that this is going to move the needle?” asked Rep. Troy Hashimoto (D, Waihee- Waiehu-Wailuku). “I’m not sure about that. … You’re taking a big risk by rolling it out to a bunch of people and seeing what the impact is. I would feel comfortable if you did it to a small group.”

Kishimoto said the plan was a targeted first step in hopes of keeping it financially manageable. Roughly 1,600 special-education teachers, 2,100 teachers in hard-to-staff locations and 100 Hawaiian immersion teachers qualify for the new pay differentials.

Cindy Covell, assistant superintendent or the Office of Talent Management, said teacher surveys show that “pay and compensation comes out as their No. 1 issue every single time.”

Just 84% of special- education positions and 34% of Hawaiian immersion positions were filled by qualified and licensed teachers in the 2018-19 school year.

The average salary for licensed teachers in Hawaii’s public schools is $68,000 a year, according to the Hawaii State Teachers Association. Pay starts at about $49,000 and ranges up to $89,000.

In approving the plan, Board of Education members pressed the department to come up with a contingency plan for funding the pay boosts if legislators do not include them in the supplemental budget.

An updated memo from the superintendent posted online for Thursday’s general meeting of the board said contingencies this year include using funds from the governor’s 5% restriction on spending, a portion of general fund carryover, and redirecting other funds not at the school level.

Legislators suggested that if the department could find money to handle the increase for this semester, it could continue to do so in future. But the memo shows that trying to cover next year’s larger cost would have substantial impacts.

Kishimoto said the department will monitor several metrics to assess the impact of the pay differentials on staffing.

“We hope that this is a first step that we can take together to address what is a very difficult, challenging issue,” she told lawmakers.

But Luke shot back, “We are not doing it together. You’re just going to do it. … You have already made a decision that you are going to do this, no matter what the Legislature does.”