By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Education Writer
Today is expected to mark another dead end in negotiations between public school teachers and the state.
Both sides must officially respond to a fact-finders’ report that proposes a 19 percent raise for Hawai‘i’s teachers. But with the governor last week indicating he will reject the report, it’s moot whether the union accepts or rejects the recommendations.
The parties will now move into a 60-day "cooling off" period and closer to the possibility of a strike. The union has said a strike isn’t likely until after spring break, in late March.
However, a strike is the last thing Hawai‘i’s teachers want, said Joan Husted, executive director of the Hawai‘i State Teachers Association, and it’s likely the parties will keep talking.
Hawai‘i’s teachers have been working without a contract since January 1999. The Hawai‘i Labor Relations Board declared an impasse in negotiations in December and both a federal mediator and the three-member fact-finding panel have been unable to bring the sides to an agreement.
The union wants a 22 percent raise. The state’s raise offer averages 9 percent over the four years of the contract, but last week the governor suggested that may increase to about 11 percent.
Hawai‘i’s teachers earn between $29,000 and $58,000 annually.
The HSTA has said Hawai‘i is in a crisis, with not enough qualified teachers and salaries too low to attract and keep people in the profession. The state says its offer tackles that problem by giving a bigger raise to entry-level teachers.
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