EDITORIAL
Teacher pay dispute can lead to reform

In the matter of professional "bonuses" for Hawai'i's public- school teachers, the best course of action might be for the two sides — the teachers' union and the governor — to simply go home and fight this out another day.

But that doesn't seem to be happening. So in the wake of a ruling by the Hawai'i Labor Relations Board that found substantial fault with both sides in this controversy, they are back to where they started:

The union and the administration have been ordered to negotiate a "bonus" or "differential" for so-called professional-track teachers for the second year of the two-year contract.

The union says it expects, and believes there is money enough to fund a full 3 percent sweetener for all teachers with master's degrees or professional diplomas in that second year.

Gov. Ben Cayetano says he is willing to negotiate something, but only if the teachers will agree to concessions. That's precisely where the two sides were at the beginning of this mess.

The governor is right on track with his effort to get closer to a pay-for-performance standard for public-school teachers rather than offering raises and bonuses on the basis of longevity or paper credentials.

But it is not as simple a matter as Cayetano sometimes suggests. He wants to move at least some percentage of teacher compensation to a more subjective level. Say what you will about a pay system that is based on longevity and credentials, it has the beauty of being relatively cut and dried. There is little room for favoritism.

But the wave of the future is in the direction of greater professionalism in the classroom, with rewards going to those who can meet measurable standards. It would be far better to achieve these changes over the bargaining table rather than by executive fiat or changes in the law.

This order from the Labor Relations Board offers an opportunity for the two sides to begin exploring the concept in depth, with the goal being to win for the teachers the pay they deserve and to push forward on long-delayed reform or renewal of our schools.

By demanding immediate concessions for the second-year payments, Cayetano appears to be continuing his morale-damaging fight with our teachers. The union could trump his effort by declaring that in these difficult economic times, they want every "excess" Federal Impact Aid dollar to go toward making up painful spending cuts forced by the shrinking state budget.