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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, July 26, 2001

Teachers to consider new state proposal

By Jennifer Hiller and Alice Keesing
Advertiser Education Writers

Negotiators for the governor and the HSTA have agreed to meet Tuesday to consider the state's new contract offer to Hawai'i's 13,000 public school teachers.

Fourth grade teacher Scott Sakihara gives his students first day instructions at Gus Webling Elementary School.

Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

The state formalized the offer yesterday, as the Hawai'i State Teachers Association continued to weigh options that include taking the proposal — or consideration of another strike — to union members for a vote.

Hundreds of Hawai'i teachers on the year-round schedule returned to class yesterday without a contract.

The two sides remain at loggerheads three months after the teachers strike over the meaning of a provision giving 3 percent bonuses to teachers with advanced and professional degrees.

The dispute over who is eligible and for how many years has delayed signing of the contract, and the HSTA has threatened legal action or another strike.

The state hand delivered a letter to HSTA officials yesterday morning with its latest offer, which limits the bonus to one year.

Joan Husted, HSTA executive director, said the offer separates the disputed issue from the rest of the contract, specifies that no more than $9.7 million including fringe benefit costs could be spent and requires the bonus be paid out of federal impact aid, of which the Department of Education has about $11 million.

The offer also limits the bonus to teachers who are at work Sept. 1. Any new hires or people who are out ill that day would not receive the bonus, Husted said.

"They say the offer is firm," Husted said. "They gave us three alternatives and they don't all quite fit in the same way. We don't even know how many people they are talking about."

Because a spending cap is set, if more people qualify for the bonus, they may not be guaranteed even 3 percent under the state's offer, Husted said. Husted will ask for a clarification before meeting with the HSTA executive board on Saturday.

The union has opposed the idea of separating the disputed bonus from the rest of the contract.

Husted said teachers are "very unhappy."

"Teachers are saying, 'We have an agreement here and we're asking it be honored,' "she said.

The HSTA board will lay out courses of action.

They include going to court, renegotiating the bonus provision or starting another strike.

One possibility is having teachers work to the letter of the contract, Husted said, which would mean curtailing their usual time and participation at school.

Union officials will be out talking to teachers next week, laying out the alternatives, discussing the pros and cons and gauging how teachers want to respond to the situation.

The HSTA board will vote on Aug. 11 how to proceed.

Hawai'i teachers ratified a proposed contract that called for raises totaling about 18.5 percent over the next two years. But none of those pay increases will be realized while the contract remains unsigned.

"We have a disagreement on this one particular item in the contract, and I think it's a legitimate disagreement," Gov. Ben Cayetano said this week. "You know, we would never have a contract had we known that they we were looking at two years and we were looking at one."

The document reads: "Teachers who hold professional certificates based on a Masters degree or a Professional Diploma shall receive a 3% differential calculated on their current salary each year."

That language was written by HSTA staff and reviewed by both parties April 23 when they reached their tentative agreement.

The state's chief negotiator, Davis Yogi, argues that the wording is open to interpretation, but does admit that he overlooked the crucial language in the contract that specifies the bonus be paid "each year."

The governor and Yogi maintain that because the figure of

$6 million for the bonuses was used in both state documents and a union flyer, that indicates the deal was only for one year.

State officials did not notice the problematic wording until May 1, one week after teachers had ratified the contract, ending their three-week strike.

At that point the governor still had not approved the deal and negotiations continued behind the scenes.

Cayetano said he draws the line at $10 million for the bonuses because the money is coming from the Department of Education budget and he does not want other education programs jeopardized.

Staff writer Kevin Dayton contributed to this report. You can reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084, or Alice Keesing at akeesing@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8027.