Updated Form 5s are anticipated on Oct. 26, increased and retroactive pay for eligible teachers begins Nov. 18

Updated: November 10, 2022

On Thursday, Oct. 6, Schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi and the Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) presented its plan to address Teacher Salary Equity and Compression to the Board of Education. Adjustments to salaries will be made through a process known as repricing.

Hawaii State Teachers Association President Osa Tui, Jr. said, “Mahalo to Superintendent Hayashi for his recognition throughout this process of the need to address salary equity and compression. The unprecedented teacher shortages across the country make it even more important to retain qualified teachers in our classrooms.”

The plan Hayashi presented to the BOE explained the reasons why certain teachers need pay adjustments:

  • The lack of step movements for teachers in the past resulted in the compression of teacher salaries and veteran teachers not being compensated for their years of service in the classroom.
  • Equity and compression issues are impacting the ability of the HIDOE to recruit and retain licensed tenured teachers who are essential in ensuring equitable access to highly qualified teachers for all students.
  • The HIDOE has developed an implementation plan to address the equity and compression issues in current teacher salaries through salary adjustments pursuant to a funding proviso in Act 248 of the 2022 Hawaii State Legislative session.
  • The plan provides employer-initiated pay adjustments based on years of service in Bargaining Unit 05 (BU05).

Since then, the HIDOE has reported its emails and phones being inundated with queries from teachers asking about their individual situations. The HSTA has been in constant discussions with the HIDOE since last Thursday, and through those discussions, can provide the following updates regarding the implementation of the forthcoming pay adjustments to approximately 72% of Bargaining Unit 05 employees.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association has compiled the following frequently asked questions to explain what we know so far. Please keep in mind developments are still occurring. Some details may change.

 

AA equates to 14A, the second highest step on the salary schedule.

BB equates to 14B, the highest step on the salary schedule.

Roughly 9,200 bargaining unit members are affected by salary compression spanning from those with more than three decades of service who are not at the top salary (Step 14B) to those who completed their second year of service who are on salary Step 5. Pay gaps range from $1,500 to $18,000, and salaries could increase by that range, depending on the number of years educators have been teaching. Those on Steps 1-3 will not see any change.

Members can expect to receive Notification of Personnel Action forms (known as Form 5s) outlining their pay adjustments on Oct. 26 in their work email. Any retroactive pay to the start of this school year and the new rate of pay (going forward) will be reflected in each teacher’s Nov. 18 paycheck. There will be no retroactive pay prior to the start of this school year, as the legislative allocation was only meant for this year and going forward.

Teachers who are not eligible for the compression pay adjustments did not receive a Form 5 because they did not qualify for a compression adjustment in line with the adjustment chart below. This means that they are already on the correct step and/or the teacher’s service time did not require an adjustment. If you are someone who is on temporary assignment for BU06, HSTA has been told your Form 5s are still in process of being finalized.

If there are any discrepancies concerning your years of service, please email them to HIDOE at cert.trans@k12.hi.us no later than the close of business on May 1, 2023.

The following chart is planned to be used for adjustment via salary repricing for Bargaining Unit 05 members:

No, there is no rounding in the compression adjustments. In addition, this is a one-time adjustment. Any future step movements will have to be bargained. We are going to the bargaining table soon to negotiate our next successor contract, which starts July 1, 2023, and the Negotiations Team will make continued step movements a priority.⁣

 

Bargaining Unit 05 Years of Service At The End of the 2021-22 SY (including up to four years of military service) Step Assignment
22 years or more 14B
20 years or more; but less than 22 years 14A
18 years or more; but less than 20 years 14
16 years or more; but less than 18 years 13
14 years or more; but less than 16 years 12
12 years or more; but less than 14 years 11
10 years or more; but less than 12 years 10
8 years or more; but less than 10 years 9
6 years or more; but less than 8 years 8
4 years or more; but less than 6 years 7
2 years or more; but less than 4 years 6
0 years or more; but less than 2 years 5

Any teacher currently on a higher step than what is listed will not be moved to a lower step.

In order for service time to count, you must be on paid status. Any leave without pay (LWOP) does not count for service time. For purposes of the salary adjustment, the HIDOE will use the records it has on file for any service time as a Bargaining Unit 05 employee at the HIDOE and public charter school. Military service time of up to four years is also counted as service time per the school code and state law. The HIDOE will use each person’s service time as of the end of last school year, including the summer months. The Form 5 each teacher receives on Oct. 26 will outline in detail the service time on record.

We anticipate that some folks may see a discrepancy in their service time. This is especially true for any employees who have left the HIDOE to teach at a Hawaii public charter school (PCS) and then returned to the HIDOE. HSTA is waiting for the HIDOE to finalize a plan to allow employees to file paperwork to correct or update their service time. We anticipate that the process will be ready by the time the Form 5s are distributed on Oct. 26 and will update members of that process as soon as we have it. Any claim for readjustment will need to be made by May 1, 2023.

In advance of the Form 5 distribution, if you don’t know your years of service, HIDOE administrators and/or school administrative services assistants (SASAs) should have access to the teacher seniority list, which reflects your years of service as a BU05 educator with the HIDOE. Keep in mind that the current seniority list will generally reflect the number of years of service through the end of the current school year, so subtract one year from that number. Charter school educators should check with their administrator/SASA equivalent.

There is currently no clear procedure for calculating both charter and HIDOE years of service. The HIDOE has some charter school service records, but not all. There may be a need for a teacher to submit additional records if there is a discrepancy in service time. We are awaiting HIDOE’s finalization of such a process.

Contract negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement will begin this fall. HSTA plans to pursue a variety of improvements to salary and benefits, including across-the-board pay raises, step movements, options for educators to reclassify beyond Class VII, and other means of compensation. . In written and oral testimony, President Tui expressed to the Board of Education a desire to give special consideration to the 400+ teachers currently at Step 14B.

No. The repricing for compression is based on State of Hawaii time served in Bargaining Unit 05. The repricing is not being implemented via negotiations, is it being made at the employer’s discretion by state law.

The adjustments do not include any out-of-state experience as a teacher. Currently, out-of-state experience is only used for initial placement on the salary schedule. Those with prior experience can qualify for a higher initial step placement on the salary chart. However, that initial higher placement does not provide service credit. Per state law, service credit is only given for two areas – up to four years of active duty military service or being on a paid status with the State of Hawaii.

Service credit earns you credit towards retirement in the Employee Retirement System (ERS) and gives you service time for use in situations where service time may come into play such as during a staff reduction. Service time in the state starts at 0 when you begin work as a state employee.

With the above, we are aware that those with teaching service outside the state of Hawaii continue to feel that more needs to be done to better recognize their prior teaching experience. We hope to address some of these issues in our next contract negotiations which begin soon.

HIDOE employees who qualify for a salary adjustment will get a Form 5 on Oct. 26 reflecting their salary adjustment (new rate of pay). From that document, you will be able to figure out the difference in your monthly and annual pay. you will be moved to a new step which will be your new salary rate going forward. You can compare your current salary to your possible new salary based on the 10-month or 12-month salary schedule in the current collective bargaining agreement. Be sure to use the gray rows which reflect the 21-hours of job-embedded professional development which were reinstated this year.

If there are any discrepancies concerning your years of service, please email them to HIDOE at cert.trans@k12.hi.us no later than the close of business on May 1, 2023. Since HIDOE or your charter school is your employer, they have your detailed personnel records. The HSTA does not maintain, nor have personnel records of Bargaining Unit 05 employees. See HIDOE’s compression notification memo of Oct. 25 for more information.

Teachers on LWOP would be eligible for the compression adjustment when the teacher returns from leave and back into paid status and service. Teachers should also know that any LWOP time is not eligible for service credit. Employees must be on paid time to earn service time.

Teachers in a temporarily assigned VP position will be eligible for the compression adjustment. However, if someone leaves Bargaining Unit 05 by applying for and accepting a permanent transfer into BU06, they are not eligible for the adjustment as they are no longer in Bargaining Unit 05.

Yes. Funding has been provided specifically for charter schools, and service time will count in both HIDOE and public charter schools.

Similar to what happened earlier this year with 21-hours of professional development time and charter teachers who qualified for shortage differentials, the HSTA will reach out to each individual charter school to notify them of the process worked out with the HIDOE. From there, each school will have to consult with HSTA on implementation. Generally, it should be fairly smooth as long as the charter school has kept accurate records. The Public Charter School Commission has already started preparing for this process by asking schools to submit service time records for Bargaining Unit 05 employees. In the meantime, please reach out to your respective HSTA UniServ Director if you have more questions.

The funding covers a one-time correction in a teacher’s step in order to reflect years of service. On Oct. 6, Schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi told the Board of Education that “Funding for these increases is included in the state budget passed through the 2022 legislative session and is expected to remain in the department’s base budget on a recurring basis.” Any future step movements would be subject to collective bargaining. This means that the adjustment is permanent and would only be changed by someone reclassifying or other negotiated increases in pay.

Hawaii’s teacher salary schedule is similarly structured to other teacher schedules across the country. It includes six classifications (education) that run horizontally across the schedule and steps, which run vertically. While steps on the schedule should reflect years of experience, teachers have not always been provided with regular step movements. As a result, a teacher with decades of experience, yet not at the top of the salary schedule, often makes no more than a teacher with significantly fewer years of experience, compressing very experienced teachers onto the same step as those with significantly less experience.

Right now, it can take 30 years or longer to reach 14B, the highest step in the salary schedule. Teachers have seen their pay compressed because regular step increases have not occurred during financial downturns. HSTA’s goal is to get teachers to reach 14B by their 22nd year.

Other questions

Related posts:

  1.  HIDOE memos related to coronavirus (COVID-19)
  2.  What is salary compression?
  3.  DOE asks lawmakers to fund salary adjustments
  4.  Hayashi: Compression pay raises should start in Nov. 18 paycheck