EDITORIAL
Low pay for teachers is an embarrassment

According to a national report, Hawai'i's teachers are the lowest paid in the nation when their salaries are adjusted for inflation.

Hawai'i's average teacher salaries ranked 17th highest. But when adjusted for the state's high cost of living, Hawai'i's average dropped to 51st, behind all other states and the District of Columbia, according to the American Federation of Teachers.

What's appalling about this report is that Hawai'i's teachers had to endure a strike to get to that point. The strike won them an increase in starting salaries from $25,000 in 1997 to $34,300 in 2003 — a 34 percent or $10,000 increase in just a little over five years.

Sounds good, but not good enough. Hawai'i's average salary was $44,306 during the 2001-02 school year. In California it was $54,348, followed by Michigan, $52,497; Connecticut, $52,376; Rhode Island, $51,619; and New York, $51,020.

We understand the state's fiscal condition makes pay raises difficult, But the high cost of living means many teachers cannot afford to buy houses — a key factor for a person deciding to avoid a profession or leave it.

Ultimately, we get what we pay for.