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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Monday, July 23, 2001

Teachers plan to show anger over contract

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Summer vacation ended on a sour note today as teachers in some public school districts returned to classrooms angry about a dispute that has kept their contract from being implemented.

With the state and Hawai'i State Teachers Association in disagreement on whether a professional bonus was meant to cover one year or two, teachers at Pearl Harbor Kai Elementary School are so frustrated that many are planning to wear their official strike T-shirts when more than 700 students arrive for classes on Wednesday. Teachers in year-round schools returned today to set up classrooms for the start of school.

"They're all just shaking their heads. They can't believe it," said kindergarten teacher Christine Facella, who wore a strike solidarity T-shirt today with an unflattering description of the governor.

"I don't think there is anybody who doesn't feel disappointed or let down," she said. "Anything can happen now — I have that feeling."

A three-week strike in April shut down schools statewide. Teachers ratified a new contract, but the dispute over the professional bonus has prevented signing of the contract. The teachers union has threatened legal action or another strike.

The state's chief negotiator, Davis Yogi, has said he did not notice problems with the wording of the contract before.

Milton Ching, another kindergarten teacher at Pearl Harbor Kai, found that hard to accept.

"How can that be, from such a high office? We as teachers, going to all our meetings, had to read it before we ratified. If we did that, shouldn't he have done it?"

Ching will proudly wear his strike T-shirt on Wednesday, the one that reads: "Got payraise?"

"If it comes down to a strike, I'll be there," he said. "This makes no sense whatsoever."