The vast majority of public school teachers on Thursday voted to approve a new, four-year contract which ups their overall pay by 13.6 percent. ADVERTISING The vast majority of public school teachers on Thursday voted to approve a new, four-year
The vast majority of public school teachers on Thursday voted to approve a new, four-year contract which ups their overall pay by 13.6 percent.
The Hawaii State Teachers Association said in a news release that 98 percent of the 8,000 members who cast ballots voted to ratify the agreement.
The union has a total of about 13,500 members statewide including 2,050 on Hawaii Island. The new contract takes effect July 1.
“Our goal from the start was to establish a fair and equitable contract that offers professional pay and improves working conditions to attract and retain the best and the brightest into the classrooms,” HSTA President Corey Rosenlee said.
HSTA has long claimed higher wages for teachers would help mitigate the state’s longstanding teacher shortage. Teachers earn about $57,000 per year, on average, in Hawaii schools.
On Monday, the Tribune-Herald spoke with East Hawaii teachers who said they were overall pleased with the agreement as proposed. The union held several informational sessions for local teachers this week.
The contract bumps salaries through a combination of across-the-board pay hikes and step increases during alternating years. A first-year teacher who’s currently paid $46,601 annually will earn $53,177 by the end of the contract.
The new deal also increases contributions to teacher health premiums by about 9 percent. It also streamlines the evaluation process for tenured teachers — which is the vast majority of HSTA members — for the next two years while the state and HSTA reconfigure the current teacher evaluation system.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
