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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, April 3, 2001



Substitutes aren't the answer

 •  State to appeal strike ruling
 •  Students consumed by strike talk at UH

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Staff Writer

The state public school system has more than 4,600 substitute teachers, but they likely won't be relied on to help keep schools open if teachers go on strike because school administrators have low expectations that they would agree to work.

Some substitute teachers already have said they wouldn't cross the picket line, and it would be difficult to find those willing to work, school administrators said.

"If all the subs go to work it will prolong the strike, but what we're hearing from a lot of substitutes is they'll honor the strike," said Danielle Lum, spokeswoman for the Hawai'i State Teachers Association. "Some of them are even planning to join the picket line."

The teachers union has reached an impasse with the state over pay raises, and thousands of Hawai'i's public school teachers are planning to go on strike on Thursday unless an agreement is reached. If there is a strike the Department of Education has said it will close schools on Thursday and Friday, and an assessment of which schools can safely reopen, based on staffing levels, will be made on a school-by-school basis.

Many substitutes are retired teachers, some of whom participated in the last teachers strike in 1973.

"I've been through one strike and almost another," said substitute and retired teacher Elaine Kanemoto, who said she would not cross the picket line. "I understand what they're going through."

Sharon Oda, another retired teacher and substitute, said she would not only refuse to work during a strike but she may even join teachers on the picket line.

Windward District substitute teacher Juanita Redfern said she doesn't intend to work as a substitute teacher during a strike. She said she would need to look after her school-age child if there is a strike, and that she also supports the union's efforts.

"I went through the teacher training last year so I know how hard teachers work for their money," she said. "And if they decide they deserve more than they're being compensated for, then I'll support them."

Substitute teachers are paid between $97.90 and $113.20 a day, depending on their education level. Maxine Joe, who heads the Department of Education's substitute teacher system, said a substitute's daily pay is based on an entry salary step that is included in the negotiated teachers' contract. Substitute teachers' pay will increase only if the amount for that step — which applies to nonunion employees such as substitutes and part-time temporary teachers — is raised.

Joe said her office has set up procedures in which principals can call in substitutes for nonstriking teachers who are — because of an illness or other reason — unable to report to work.

Principals are free to hire substitute teachers during a strike, but the department is not encouraging them to call substitutes to replace striking teachers, she said.

"They could always try, but it doesn't mean that there are going to be enough substitutes for that," she said. "It never crossed our minds. It's something that we didn't address because we didn't expect it to be feasible for the principals to do."

Joe said the public school system employs 12,650 classroom teachers, resource teachers and support staff workers. There are 4,668 substitute teachers.

Joe said an average of more than 1,000 substitute teachers are needed on any given day.

"We're busy enough just trying to fill the regular absences so we certainly don't want to get into a special strike situation and encourage that kind of hiring," she said. "It really hadn't crossed our minds about how we're going to keep the schools running with substitute teachers. That was never the intent of substitute teachers nor the substitute teacher program."

Advertiser education writer Alice Keesing contributed to this report.