BY JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ADVERTISING HONOLULU — Hawaii public school teachers voted against a six-year proposed contract Thursday, leaving in place a months-long labor dispute with the state. The vote was 67 percent against the contract to
BY JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU — Hawaii public school teachers voted against a six-year proposed contract Thursday, leaving in place a months-long labor dispute with the state.
The vote was 67 percent against the contract to 33 percent for it, Wil Okabe, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said in a posting on the group’s website.
“So beginning tomorrow, I will initiate a union-wide conversation about our options going forward, listen to your suggestions, roll up my sleeves, and get back to work,” he said.
“Many of you have suggested that we return to the negotiating table,” Okabe said in his statement. “Others of you believe a strike vote should be our next step. And still others have suggested that we continue with our legal challenges. Each of these points of view should be considered and discussed.”
Under the proposed contract teachers, along with other public employees, would have continued to see a 5 percent pay cut as a cost-saving measure for the state. After June 30, 2013, teachers would move to a new salary schedule that recognized their years of service with the state Department of Education and move to a revised teacher evaluation system that allows for annual 1 percent step increases.
The vote drew attention from beyond the islands because the U.S. Department of Education last month admonished Hawaii for “unsatisfactory” performance in fulfilling its Race to the Top promises and put a $75 million grant under “at-risk” status. This is the first time the department has placed that status on a state that won dollars distributed in the high-profile competition.
Hawaii education officials have said some reforms have been slowed by the labor dispute. The two sides had reached a conceptual agreement before Hawaii was announced as a winner to tie half of a teacher’s evaluation to education gains made by students.
But the union currently is embroiled in a prohibited practice complaint it lodged with the state labor relations board against the state. The union claims the state violated members’ rights by implementing its “last, best and final” contract offer over the summer.
Earlier this month an “agreement in principle” was announced, which includes moving to a performance-based compensation system.
The grant’s status played a role in reaching the agreement.
