Posted on: Monday, April 4, 2005

Raise can help keep teachers, union says

Associated Press

A survey conducted for the public school teachers union shows that 55 percent of teachers younger than 35 would rethink a decision to leave the public school system if salary and benefits were improved.

The survey was released Saturday at the convention of the Hawaii State Teachers Association.

The union last month revealed a key finding of the survey — that 50 percent of public school teachers did not expect to be teaching in Hawai'i public schools in 2010.

The HSTA is in mediation with the state for a new contract. The union said last month it was seeking an average 15 percent increase in each of the next two years.

HSTA President Roger Takabayashi said the survey's findings "reiterate our need to make recruiting and retaining teachers" a high priority.

"Our teachers have told us what they need to stay in Hawai'i's public schools," Takabayashi said, "and we need to listen to them."

Other key findings:

• Forty-nine percent of teachers are happy with their choice of profession, while 27 percent said they might not continue teaching in the long term.

• Of those who don't expect to be teaching in five years, 49 percent said they would retire, and 25 percent would work in a nonteaching jobs. Nineteen percent said they hoped to teach in a private school or on the Mainland.

• Thirty-eight percent of all teachers said increased pay and improved benefits would encourage them to stay in Hawai'i's public schools.

• One in four teachers reported having an additional part-time job. Among teachers younger than 35, about 28 percent had a part-time job.

The HSTA represents more than 13,000 teachers statewide.