Few courses have been offered, slowing reclass opportunities
Posted: November 1, 2024
Members of the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association may have noticed that the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education has not yet published a reclassification memo for school year 2024-2025, and the traditional reclassification due date of Oct. 30 has come and gone. The HSTA had similar concerns and provides the following update on actions taken Friday to protect teachers’ contractual rights.
In the last few months, a number of teachers, especially those who frequently work with the HIDOE to offer professional development (PD) courses through the HSTA and the HIDOE’s learning management system, Professional Development Educate, Empower, and Excel (PDE3) have shared their frustration with HSTA over misinformation, delays and impacts to the PD course system and future impacts on teachers’ ability to reclassify and improve their professional practice.
In May, HIDOE held a meeting with HSTA regarding plans to update the manual on requirements for PD providers. The HIDOE’s initial request for a consultation came to HSTA on April 10 and can be found here, HSTA also provided a formal response letter on May 24.
HIDOE publishes manual without notice or complete consultation
To date, HSTA has yet to receive a response from HIDOE regarding our May 24 letter. However, HSTA recently learned, through Bargaining Unit 05 employees, of an Oct. 21, 2024 HIDOE memo entitled “Hawaiʻi State Department of Education Professional Development Credit Courses: A Manual for Providers Featuring Important Participant Details.” Attached to the memo was a handbook that appears to be substantially similar to the manual on which the HIDOE requested consultation in April.
Despite the Oct. 21 memo indicating that HSTA received a copy, the union never received any notice of the manual’s publication. The HSTA is currently reviewing the 60-plus page manual to determine if it includes materials that violate teachers’ contractual rights or require further consultation or bargaining with the employer.
The HSTA remains very concerned that the HIDOE’s ability to implement its transition to a new learning management system and provide PD courses are not viable given the lack of adequate staffing to ensure timely and adequate training of instructors, review of potential (submitted) courses, approval, and offering of sufficient professional development courses.
We are further alarmed because Bargaining Unit 05 employees report only 11 credit-bearing courses are currently offered. The HSTA has also received feedback from instructors that the HIDOE employees in charge of course review and approval are gatekeeping the ability for courses to be offered, delaying approvals for months at a time, restricting the ability of instructors to manage their courses, and refusing to allow classes to be scheduled in advance (requiring a course to be completed before a new one can be posted).
The delays and lack of course offerings come on top of the limits placed on courses offered in the fall of 2023 and spring and summer of 2024. That created a situation where the employer is artificially preventing teachers from having access to additional coursework throughout the 2024 calendar year, impacting their ability to acquire adequate credits to apply for reclassification. More importantly, these restrictions and course delays have a greater impact in school year 2024-2025 as teachers are actively seeking coursework to qualify for reclassification to Class VIII in 2025.
Failure to address contractual requirements, reclassification memo delay for SY 2024-2025
Historically, HIDOE has contacted the HSTA for consultation regarding the publishing of the annual Guidelines for Reclassification, which is usually released near the start of the school year. The HSTA became concerned in late September when we had yet to receive any information or consultation regarding the HIDOE’s annual memo for reclassification guidelines. So on Sept. 26, 2024, HSTA Chief Negotiator Andrea Eshelman requested a status update. The HIDOE took one month to respond to the union, waiting until Oct. 23, seeking HSTA’s comments and feedback and giving the union only two days to respond.
Unfortunately, for unknown reasons, the HIDOE’s new draft guidelines attempt to further limit the ability of teachers to reclassify, in direct violation of the HSTA contract. In particular, the employer is trying to take away the right of teachers who are still working toward their State Approved Teacher Education Program (SATEP) to reclassify. This attempt is especially concerning as in the current contract, starting with 2023-2024 school year, the parties expanded the ability of non-SATEP teachers to reclassify all the way through class VII.
In addition, the employer’s memo announces the requirement to use a new learning management system, replacing PDE3 with Learnsoft. Still, the HIDOE failed to request bargaining regarding the changes impacting the contract, which specifically cites PDE3 as the required system for PD coursework and reclassification.
The HSTA has raised other concerns because the draft guidelines cite the traditional Oct. 30 deadline for submission of fall 2024 reclassification requests, when the annual reclassification memo has yet to be published. As a result, the HSTA has asked HIDOE to allow an extension of more time for submission.
Should you like to see the comments HSTA sent to the HIDOE regarding its changed guidelines, the comments are linked here in Draft Memo Draft Guidelines.
HSTA files demand for impact bargaining
It is very disappointing that the HIDOE continues to fail in its legal obligations to properly consult with HSTA regarding such collective bargaining matters. Therefore, the HSTA Friday demanded impact bargaining with the employer regarding the unilateral changes to the learning management system (cited in our contract) that affect teachers’ rights to reclassify. HSTA has also requested a meeting with the employer within two weeks, and we are hopeful that we can reach an agreement regarding any needed changes to the contract and to the planned reclassification guidelines and the manual for providers of professional development.
The HSTA is also considering any other actions necessary to protect our member’s rights. We will continue to update you as we have more information.
HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. said, “It’s unfortunate that while our members are diligently trying their best to soak up new information through professional development coursework meant to benefit our keiki, HIDOE’s actions have dried up many of the opportunities for PD which were once much more readily available.”
“We do not want to believe that this is being done on purpose, but the end result is clear — our members’ livelihoods are not being seriously considered and our keiki end up losing out as a direct result. The actions being taken by HSTA are meant to address and resolve these outstanding issues with haste and out of respect that our members deserve,” Tui added.