Teachers ratify contract; classes resume Thursday
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Details of proposed settlement |
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Advertiser special: The Teacher Contract Crisis |
By Alice Keesing and Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writers
More than 85 percent of Hawai'i's public school teachers tonight voted to ratify a new contract, ending a three-week strike.
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Teachers will report to work tomorrow, and students will return to class Thursday.
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See the tentative agreement between the Hawaii State Teachers Association and the state Board of Education.
The agreement, reached late last night, calls for raises totaling about 18.5 percent over the next two years for Hawai'i's 13,000 public school teachers.
Out of 10,787 votes, 9,208 were "yes" votes.
"That's a wonderful turnout," said Hawaii State Teachers Association Executive Director Joan Husted. "I think what the vote clearly represents is an overwhelming acceptance of the contract. I think it also says that some were upset that (senior teachers) didn't get as much money as others and also there was some sentiment that if we'd held out and were tough we might have gotten a little bit more."
Teachers voted at 14 sites on six islands. All O'ahu teachers gathered at Stan Sheriff Center at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa for their ratification vote.
The settlement appears to be a slightly sweeter version of an offer the state made on Saturday, with raises amounting to 10 percent across the board, plus two step increases worth approximately 3 percent each. Step increases are generally tied to individual start date and seniority.
In a key sticking point for teachers, the administration negotiated that the raises be dribbled out in small increments over the life of the two-year contract. The union would have preferred they be granted in two chunks, at the start of each fiscal year. The deal allows the state to save on out-of pocket expenses over the two years.
The contract also includes a "retention bonus" totaling $1,100, instead of retroactive pay, which had been another major point of contention. The bonus works out to slightly more than 2.5 percent of the average teacher's annual salary.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
That brings the total package to about 18 percent for most teachers. Teachers currently earn between $29,000 and $58,000.
Gov. Ben Cayetano and HSTA President Karen Ginoza shook hands at a news conference this morning at the governor's office. Also pictured are, from left, state chief negotiator Davis Yogi, Board of Education member Denise Matsumoto, Schools Superintendent Paul LeMahieu and BOE member Winston Sakurai.
Gov. Ben Cayetano said today he believed he had met the goal of helping to improve the efficiency of state government with this contract as with other public worker agreements he negotiated.
Cayetano said the state achieved the goal to "increase our teachers' salaries so that they would be competitive with the Mainland — more than competitive with the Mainland — because we know how acute the teacher shortage is."
He said he believes the new pay schedule is a compromise that will "entice people to come to Hawai'i."
The governor added that he believes the new pay raise "will place us among the top 10 highest average salaries in the nation."
"It was a struggle, but we feel we have a very good contract," HSTA president Karen Ginoza said today.
Teachers' union officials also believe they met their three goals,
Ginoza said: recognition of work done by teachers, with the retention incentive; step movement, or increases, for teachers already in the system; and "pay for everyone."
"We do have a contract that we feel will help in terms of the recruitment and retention," Ginoza said.
Carole Sodetani, who teaches fifth grade at Royal Elementary School, said she was "glad, relieved and very elated" about the settlement, which she hopes will lure young teachers and retain veteran ones.
"We're going to get back to the business of learning," she said. "We're going to move on."
Although she was concerned about lost instruction time, "I know that my fellow teachers will do their best to get right on track," said Sodetani, who has spent 33 of her 34 years of teaching at Royal Elementary.
"I think the one lesson the students truly learned was how much they missed each other."
She also praised the community, parents and school staff. "We're so impressed and overwhelmed by all the support," she said. "I didn't see this in 1973."
McKinley High School teacher Jodi Akasaki said she was happy about the settlement, but wanted to see the settlement numbers for herself.
"I'm happy to go back into the classroom," said Akasaki, who has been teaching for four years. "Hopefully (the settlement) is as good as the union said it is."
"The students have been supportive," Akasaki added. "They think teachers deserve a raise."
Hawai'i State Teachers Association officials refused to release details of the tentative settlement this morning, but the union's chief negotiator said she was pleased with the deal.
"I think it's a very good package," said HSTA executive director Joan Husted. "Our negotiating committee and board of directors thought it was a good package. I'm sure that they're going to carry that enthusiasm out into the field. Teachers need to make up with their own minds if they like it. If they like it, they'll vote for it. If they don't like it, they'll vote it down."
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
The teachers' union and state reached the tentative settlement just before midnight, hours before a federal judge was expected to intervene on behalf of Hawai'i's special-needs students.
Moanalua Middle School teachers made new signs this morning to replace their "On Strike" signs following last night's tentative contract agreement between the state and the Hawaii State Teachers Association.
Husted said there were no hard feelings.
"There's no bitterness," Husted said. "We did what we had to do. Teachers held strong. We're very pleased with the outcome. There's no room for bitterness.
"I think the ones who won in negotiations were the kids in Hawai'i," she said. "We need to continue to work on teachers' salaries. Our jobs are not finished yet. It won't be finished until our teachers' salary is No. 1 in the nation and people want to come to Hawai'i. It's not that far- fetched."
There are 30 instructional days left in this school year. The Department of Education is asking principals to re-examine all planned field trips and excursions to allow enough classroom time for the remainder of the school year.
Because 14 school days have been lost, teachers also will be asked to focus on the most important things in the curriculum, the department said.
Seniors will be asked to stay in the classroom until the day before graduation. Public school graduations are scheduled for June 1-3.
In anticipation of the deal, the Hawai'i State Teachers Association last night called in its 50-member board, which had to approve any deal before sending it out to a vote. They arrived at HSTA headquarters around 7 p.m. carrying blankets, pillows and food. They were considering the last offer by around 10 p.m.
With last night's settlement, the state narrowly avoided federal court intervention. U.S. District Judge David Ezra was scheduled to hear a motion at 9 a.m. today requesting him to appoint a receiver over the school system and restore services to special-education students. That hearing was not held.
What ended last night began more than two weeks ago as the nation's first-ever shutdown of an entire state education system, from kindergarten through graduate school. More than 13,000 public school teachers and 3,100 university professors walked off the job April 5. The dual strikes closed down schools, stranding more than 220,000 students and sending families scrambling for child care.
It was the Department of Education's first strike since 1973, and education leaders are still assessing the damage. The strike has derailed school reform efforts, and many worry how the sides will pick up the pieces to work together again.
The strike also reached out to touch the state's fragile economy as teachers and others reined in spending. And as politicians cozied up to striking teachers, the ramifications likely will be felt in the next election.
After expectations were dashed of a settlement this weekend, teachers and parents had been on tenterhooks as the two sides inched toward a deal. For many the strike had become an emotional and economic hardship.
'Aikahi Elementary parent Carol Shafer was thrilled to hear of a deal last night.
"As much as the parents want their kids back in school, I think the children want to be in school," she said. "I think they miss their friends, and I know that both my children very much miss their teacher. My daughter's been writing to her teacher every day."
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Like many parents, Shafer said she supported the teachers' bid for better pay.
State chief negotiator Davis Yogi left the HSTA headquarters on Red Hill at 4:45 this morning after reviewing the settlement.
"As the PTA president, I have not received one call that was against what the teachers were doing — not one," she said.
Resolving the teachers' contract proved to be the toughest of all labor deals the state negotiated this year. As all other public employee unions settled, the teachers were left out on picket lines as negotiators struggled to find middle ground.
Teachers staked their turf early in the talks, calling for better pay to tackle the state's worsening teacher shortage. Gov. Ben Cayetano also was firm in his resolve that there be enough money left over for social programs that suffered during the state's economic crisis. He also wanted to foster educational reform by linking pay raises to improved performance.
But the most contentious issue was always money.
At the beginning of talks, the two sides were separated by a vast divide. The state offered 9 percent; the union clung to 22 percent. By the time teachers walked off the job, the state had raised its offer to 14 percent, but the teachers were still around 20 percent — the difference was a seemingly insurmountable $100 million.
Driven by growing workloads and rising expectations of the education system, teachers went onto the picket line in an overwhelming show of solidarity. Many were determined to get a better deal than in 1997, when they received 17 percent but had to add seven days to their year.
Throughout the strike, more than 99 percent of nearly 13,000 teachers were marching the picket line. And contrary to expectations, the numbers stayed strong as the strike dragged on. They missed their first paycheck on Friday, but yesterday they were still hanging tough, saying they were in it for the long haul.
Throughout it all, the Department of Education was only able to open one school: the two-teacher, 39-student school on the private island of Ni'ihau.
Some of the teachers' determination came from resentment of the governor and what they perceived to be his hard line in negotiations. Anti-Cayetano signs and songs sprung up on the picket lines as teachers asked how he could call himself the education governor while the schools sat closed.
There was some friction at schools like Campbell and Farrington, where high numbers of teachers crossed the lines. But overall, pickets were peaceful.
Driven by the threat of federal court intervention, the pressure to reopen schools and to get funding approved this legislative session, negotiators for the two sides worked around the clock last week, setting up makeshift beds in the meeting rooms and ordering in pizza and Chinese food while they inched closer to agreement.
Up until the end, retroactive pay was the thorniest issue that neither side appeared willing to concede. But negotiators forged a breakthrough late last week when they agreed on a retention bonus, or differential. That one-time payment costs the state less because it is not built into the base salary, but it does add in to teacher retirement benefits.
The deal also includes pay raises for the last two years of the four-year contract.
While the union did not reveal details, it apparently won its bid for across-the-board raises. The state had wanted to give higher raises to entry-level teachers in an effort to boost recruitment, which has been difficult during a nationwide teacher shortage.
"I think the problem that everybody had was for the more senior teachers," Cayetano said yesterday. "We felt that putting the resources up front was what was appropriate for addressing the shortage problems, but they made a big point about the senior teachers and the ones in the middle."
In a surprising move, the administration also "gave back" five of the seven additional classroom days the administration won in 1997. Instead of classroom days, those will be "professional development" or class-preparation days.
With those details settled and the right number of dollars on the table last night, a deal was struck.
Advertiser Staff Writers Ronna Bolante, Kevin Dayton, Robbie Dingeman, Rod Ohira and James Gonser contributed to this story.
