honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Contract talks focus on teachers' after-hours duties

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Education Writer

Labor negotiations between the state and public-school teachers have bogged down around issues of time spent outside the classroom, but the tone of talks remains amicable so far, both sides said yesterday.

"The requirements that have been put on the teachers' plate takes a lot of time away from the classrooms, and that's what the teachers are complaining about," Hawai'i State Teachers Association president Roger Takabayashi said. "They want to spend quality time with the kids."

Special-education teacher Dora Wilson said most teachers probably spend six to 10 hours per week at meetings with parents, preparing lessons, grading papers and other duties outside classrooms.

"No teacher gets their work done in the workday," said Wilson, who has taught at Pearl City High School and was temporarily assigned to train other teachers this year. "Most teachers get one period a day to prep for their classes, but that's never enough."

A federal mediator will join the negotiations by Feb. 21, both sides in the talks said yesterday.

HSTA and state bargainers have informally agreed to ask that an impasse be declared on Tuesday, which would require the mediator to be called in to assist.

It is not unusual for collective bargaining in Hawai'i to reach impasse and require mediation, and neither side said talks had completely stalled. Both said the immediate goal was to reach agreement over nonmonetary issues before negotiating salaries.

"There's no real sticking point, but there are lots of issues," Takabayashi said.

Meanwhile, neither side has proposed any specific changes to teacher salaries yet, and neither would say what they were likely to offer or demand. The union's contract expires at the end of June.

HSTA hopes to raise starting teachers' annual pay from $36,486 to $45,000 by 2009, and to increase top-scale pay from $66,203 to $100,000.

"That isn't a goal for this contract, but any movement toward that goal would be welcome," Takabayashi said.

State deputy chief negotiator Harold DeCosta said the talks have been intense but cordial.

"Everybody's anxious to get things rolling, and we're working at it," he said. "We're going to be meeting every day. We've got weeks scheduled. Negotiations are tedious, especially with 13,000 teachers. Everybody has their own bone to pick."

Takabayashi said reporting and documentation requirements associated with court orders and federal education policy mandates have added to teacher workloads significantly.

Wilson said the amount of time spent outside the classroom varies from teacher to teacher, but that special-education teachers often have an especially heavy workload after-hours.

"I think special-ed teachers probably get the short end of the stick in terms of that, because we are required by law to follow federal mandates for special-ed students, and state mandates on top of that," she said. "There are a lot of reports and things to comply with in terms of state standards."

Preparing for and participating in meetings to create individualized education plans that are required for special-education students are also time-consuming, Wilson said.

Takabayashi declined to suggest any particular way of addressing time-management issues, but said the union hopes to make proposals the state will agree to.

"We want to relieve our teachers so they can do what they've been hired to do: teach," he said. "It's as simple as that. The state basically agrees."

DeCosta confirmed that such matters were being reviewed closely, but also offered no specific proposals.

Another key issue is the state's chronic shortage of qualified teachers, and that's closely linked to salaries, Takabayashi said.

"In order to be in the competitive market for people with baccalaureate degrees, we need an attractive starting salary," Takabayashi said. "There are 275 vacant positions right now as we speak, and we're halfway through the year."

Wilson said incremental salary increases to keep up with inflation would be a good start. She said she has seen many well-qualified colleagues leave Hawai'i to teach in other states where they're paid more and the cost of living is lower, or to take higher-paying jobs in other fields.

"I love what I do, but with the burden of trying to make it all work as a parent and a homeowner, it gets to the point where I really do struggle with the decision," she said.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.