$164 million for teachers in Hawaii should aid retention, union says

The union representing Hawaii’s 13,500 public school teachers is cheering the Legislature’s approval of a state budget that includes more than $164 million to fix salary shortfalls for thousands of educators and maintain pay differentials to those working in some hard-to-staff categories.

Those salary adjustments, plus restoration of 21 hours of paid professional development for all teachers, are part of the state operating budget awaiting approval from Gov. David Ige, who has voiced general support for improving teacher compensation.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association says the teacher salary measures should help delay a predicted exodus of many veteran public school educators who have felt discouraged from working for comparatively low pay and pushing through classroom challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

More teachers who have been thinking about changing jobs or retiring “are now planning to remain and keep the skills and experience they’ve developed in the system, continuing to help students,” said Osa Tui Jr., HSTA president.

A union analysis says that because teacher salary movements in Hawaii have not always been granted in economically austere years, about 8,700 public and charter school teachers are significantly underpaid, causing teachers to become “compressed” in large clusters on parts of the salary ladder.

The Legislature approved raising those teachers’ salaries by $7,700 to $26,000, depending on their years of experience, the union said.

Of the $130 million one-time adjustment to erase salary compression, $121.7 million would go to affected teachers in the regular public schools and $8.3 million to those in charter schools.

Under the Legislature’s budget, an additional $34.5 million would maintain existing pay differentials of $3,000 to $10,000 per year for teachers working in hard-to-staff geographic areas, special education and Hawaiian language immersion. It would break out as $32.5 million for public school teachers and $2 million for charter school teachers.

“This should be an ‘unretirement party’ for many of the terrific teachers out there,” Sylvia Luke, House Finance chair and Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, said during a livestream briefing last week on the union’s social media.

Retention of experienced teachers is considered important for education quality as the state and nation have dealt with a chronic teacher shortage for years. The retention rate of Hawaii public school teachers after five years of employment is just over 50%.

The typical Hawaii teacher earned an average of $65,409 in 2020-21, according to the National Education Association. While that was slightly above the national average of $65,090, Hawaii’s high cost of living diminishes buying power.

Pending Ige’s approval, next steps would include implementation meetings between the HSTA and state officials, the union said. The HSTA wants to have the salary adjustments and differentials appear in the first paycheck of the new school year, but if that’s not possible, will seek to have them retroactive to July 1.