Public will be told how to prepare for strike
| • | Federal judge may intervene if teachers walk out |
Advertiser Staff
As plans for a teacher's strike move relentlessly ahead, information for students and parents on how to prepare will be made available today by the state Department of Education and Schools Superintendent Paul LeMahieu.
School administrators are galvanizing for a strike by Hawai'i's 13,000 school teachers Thursday.
Gov. Ben Cayetano and Hawai'i State Teachers Association President Karen Ginoza made statements yesterday indicating they remain far apart in their positions.
LeMahieu has called a press conference for today, "so that parents may make alternative arrangements for child care and take whatever steps necessary to be prepared for the possible disruption of school," Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen said yesterday.
The department also will be buying newspaper advertisements Sunday to provide information, Knudsen said.
The last time state and union negotiators sat at the bargaining table was Wednesday morning and no further talks are scheduled. Neither Cayetano nor Ginoza gave any indication they were any closer to a settlement the day after each made taped television appeals to the public Wednesday night.
"She missed the point," Cayetano said of Ginoza's television comments. "The issue is about money and whether the state can afford to pay what the HSTA is demanding, not only for the next two years but beyond that."
Ginoza, meanwhile, said there's no time to get into a "he said, she said" public debate.
"The fact is we need to stop talks and tactics that really detract from the contract issue, which is addressing the teacher shortage in Hawai'i," Ginoza said. "We both stated our cases .... Now we need to get back to bargaining."
The union says Hawai'i is facing a teacher shortage crisis and the state needs to improve pay to boost recruitment and retention. The state says it has a limited amount to pay and wants to tie any pay raise to improving performance.
Officially, the union has requested a 22 percent package with a price tag of $260 million. Informally, it has offered a 21 percent package that would cost $161 million. The state's package averages a 12 percent increase, ranging from 10 to 20 percent. The total cost is $67 million. It includes $5,000 a year for teachers who gain national certification.
Teachers earn between $29,000 and $58,000, and have been without a contract since January 1999.
The governor disputed statements by the union that an independent fact-finding panel had found the state has money to pay teachers. The union's statement is based on reports by HSTA-hired consultants, Cayetano said.
"These (University of Hawai'i) experts were the same ones who told the voters (in the 1998 gubernatorial campaign) that the state was $500 million in debt, when in fact it had a $154 million end balance," the governor said in a statement released yesterday by his spokeswoman, Kim Murakawa.
"The contention by HSTA's so-called experts from the UH that there is ample money to pay for raises is outrageous, and will only increase the likelihood of a prolonged strike."
Cayetano said the state's financial records are available to anyone who wants to look at them.
Ginoza said: "We don't want to strike, but we will if the only alternatives are to strike or accept the state's offer, which is status quo.
"And status quo is unacceptable."
The teachers union told the Hawai'i Labor Relations Board yesterday that the state's plan to use 322 special education teachers during a strike would endanger students' safety.
The board is considering the state's plan to classify 322 teachers as essential workers who could be ordered to report to work even during a strike. The board had earlier given provisional approval and asked the state to provide a plan on how it would use those teachers.
While the board did not make a decision yesterday, its members said the plan fell short of what it requested.
Special-education teacher Wendy Calizar testified that the plan would endanger children, putting her in charge of 13 severely disabled students when she usually has six.
"I think it's too many students," she said. "If the child is allergic to a certain kind of food, and the teacher is not aware of it, (the child) can die," Calizar added.
