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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, April 7, 2001



No end to teacher's walkout in sight

 •  Teachers, bus drivers, suppliers feel strike pinch
 •  Share your ideas and resources for child care during a strike
 •  Special Report: The Teacher Contract Crisis

By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Education Writer

Class will be open for just 20 of Hawai'i's 183,000 public school students on Monday when teachers return for their third day on the picket line with the governor indicating he expects a prolonged strike.

Jarrett Middle School teacher Geri Pung is overwhelmed by the generosity of nonstriking staff members who offered refreshments.

Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Laupahoehoe on the Big Island is the only school in the entire state that will open its doors Monday, and only to its senior students. That leaves the rest of the students idling for at least another day and probably longer with no talks planned this weekend.

"The schools will remain closed to students except for that one small exception," said Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen. "And that's not really surprising, when we see the strength of the numbers reporting to the picket lines."

The Hawaii State Teachers Association reported 104 teachers crossing the line yesterday, fewer than the 126 who crossed the first day. The department said 148 teachers were reported at work, or about 1 percent. The department's higher number would include teachers on long-term leave.

The department will continue to assess the ability of each school to open every day and announce any openings by 4:30 p.m the preceding day.

Meanwhile, the union plans to take the state to court after Gov. Ben Cayetano withheld money from the teachers' health insurance fund that was supposed to be paid on Thursday.

"The governor has said that teachers on strike are on unauthorized leave and therefore he had the authority to withhold payment," HSTA President Karen Ginoza said. "We are going to fight it in court because it is illegal. He did it by executive order rather than follow the law. But all teachers do still have coverage, so we don't want them to panic."

Ginoza called Cayetano yesterday in the first contact between the two sides since negotiations broke down Wednesday after months of wrangling about teacher pay.

There are no plans to talk this weekend, but Ginoza said they agreed to leave the door open. The teachers are asking for a settlement that they say is less than $200 million. But Cayetano says the state cannot afford that kind of a raise and has offered a $93 million package.

While the governor indicates he won't budge, McKinley High physical education teacher Peggy Anderson said Cayetano is facing 12,000 pairs of teacher heels that also are dug into the ground.

"We'll be here as long as we have to," Anderson said as she stood on the picket line yesterday. "The die is cast, we have to stand up for our rights."

In their two days on the picket line, more than 12,000 teachers already have endured blazing sun as well as soggy rain.

Yesterday's gloomy skies did not appear to dampen the teachers' spirits. They sang, talked among themselves and choreographed picket line dances. And the food poured in, as parents and students dropped off malassadas, manapua and Spam musubi to the tune of honking horns from passers-by.

McKinley High sophomore R.G. Lagunday stopped by the picket line yesterday to drop off a large combo pizza and words of support for her teachers.

"I'm just praying that it will all be over soon," said Lagunday, who has a project due next Saturday that she can't work on without school audio-visual equipment.

Honolulu police yesterday reported another violence-free day of picketing, although tempers are getting shorter among strikers and motorists.

Police continue to monitor the picket lines, including those at Campbell High School, which had the state's highest number of teachers crossing the line — 11 on Wednesday and 10 yesterday.

Principal Gail Awakuni said everything has remained calm so far.

"We have an understanding where guidelines were set and the striking teachers have been abiding by it as well as the nonstriking," she said.

Assistant Chief Stephen Watarai said police issued just one strike-related citation during the first two days of the strike. He said a driver, apparently tired of waiting for pickets to clear at Windward Community College, was cited for driving in the wrong lane to get around other cars.

Police worry about problems that might arise from not having 183,000 students in school during the day.

"Children that are used to being in very structured activities and are left alone and unsupervised may not respond in an appropriate manner," said Honolulu Police Detective Letha DeCaires. "...We may never know all of the things they're doing when we're at work."

There have been reports of vandalism and petty thefts, but it's too soon to tell whether they're a direct result of the strike.

Kalani High School in East Honolulu reported that glass jalousies were broken in the administration building and a rock was thrown into the front door sometime between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. It was the third act of vandalism to the building since December and happened long past the usual school hours, said principal Maxine Nagamine.

So Nagamine doesn't believe the damage can be connected to the strike. Overall, she worries about "students who have too much time on their hands."

"If they're not in school, I would hope that their parents are monitoring them a little bit," she said. "Hopefully they're keeping up with their schoolwork. I can be optimistic, can't I?"

Staff writers Curtis Lum and Dan Nakaso contributed to this report.