‘Want to be able to provide living wage’: Green on HSTA contract

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Thousands of teachers will be getting approximately 14.5% raises over a tentative four-year contract.

State officials made the announcement with the Hawaii State Teachers Association President Osa Tui Monday afternoon.

“This is the strongest contract we have achieved since 2013,” said Tui.

“This round of bargaining was the most collaborative I’ve experienced in my decade of negotiations with the employer. We’re also extremely grateful to Gov. Josh Green, who joined us on the last day of bargaining and actively helped to clear some of the log jams that remained,” he added.

In addition to the pay raise, certain teachers would also be receiving a one-time $3,000 bonus.

Teachers also secure a 21 hours of paid professional development into the contract– and this is important for teachers because the more they get the professional development credits, the more they’ll be eligible to receive a pay raise.

Those involved in these negotiations said this is a win for recruiting new teachers as well as for those teachers who have been working in the department for many years.

“Now entry-level teachers are going to start at $50,000 or more and I thought that was an important milestone for us to achieve,” said Gov. Josh Green

“The contract will help with our recruitment of new teachers with the starting salary where it is now, with the new contract definitely as we move forward,” Superintendent Keith Hayashi said. “As the governor shared with the establishment of Class VIII we look forward to using that as a means to help to retain our teachers within the profession.”

The deal affects 13,500 public school teachers and will hopefully draw and retain teachers in Hawaii.

So those who have been teaching for a long time and reached their pay cap– will now be able to earn a wage increase

The average annual pay raise is expected to be 3.4%.

“This agreement helps set a solid foundation for the next four years with predictable increases that recognize the incredible work of the educators in our schools who directly support student learning,” Hayashi said.

Extracurricular teachers will also receive raises, there will be increases in employer contributions to healthcare premiums and raises pay for instructors working toward licensure.

Teachers will be voting on this tentative agreement Wednesday, April 26.

“This is another great step forward in raising pay and improving the quality of life for our teachers, who we value tremendously,” said Gov. Green.

Details of the full pending contract can be seen on the HSTA website.