Cherish time safely spent with friends and family and look forward with hope
Posted: December 23, 2021
One of the most precious things we have is time — a non-renewable resource that each of us spends and cannot save. Throughout the pandemic, educators have had to expend additional time from a finite supply to meet the needs of our students. It has not been easy.
Many of our colleagues have decided the time has come to leave the profession. With staffing shortages, smaller paychecks, rising inflation, and safety concerns still lingering, you cannot blame anyone for moving on. To all educators, we send our sincere mahalo for your service throughout these tumultuous times. To those who are retiring, congratulations on your achievement and best wishes on your next journey!
In just a few weeks, a promising legislative session is set to begin. We are hopeful for what’s ahead as legislators seem ready to address some long-standing issues primarily affecting those with the most time spent in Hawaii’s public schools: salary compression.
The time is now to fix the issue of salary compression which has caused many of our members over the years to be “stuck” on the same salary step with colleagues who have far fewer years of service. Steps should more accurately reflect longevity in the system. Many members have not been able to reach the top of the salary schedule despite decades of dedicated service.
Bills are also expected to be introduced to remove from the Hawaii Revised Statutes the reclassification cap on our salary schedule. Reclassification is individually attained by taking professional development and other coursework, but when our members reach Class VII, there is little incentive to continue with professional development. Should the cap be removed, it will allow the HSTA Negotiations Team to more easily bargain for those “stuck” at Class VII for future collective bargaining agreements.
These things won’t happen without your active engagement. As you know, testimony can be a powerful driver of legislation, and we will need you to give some of your time to help with these endeavors as the legislative session progresses during the second semester.
We also look forward to finally being able to have meaningful discussions with the department to address and recommend fixes to the broken Teacher Assignment and Transfer Program in the next year. Your responses to our TATP-related Question of the Week in Member Matters have already been helpful. Please continue to contribute your thoughts here.
Lastly, we are thankful that Gov. David Ige included funds to continue the shortage differentials in his proposed supplemental budget to ensure we can continue to attract and retain teachers in special education, hard-to-staff, and Hawaiian language immersion positions.
After the long ordeal we have been through, 2022 brings signs of hope, especially given vaccination availability for all students and staff in our school communities.
As we finish out 2021, make the most of it, cherish the time you can spend with friends and family during this winter break, and please keep safe.
Wishing you the happiest of holidays!
Osa Tui, Jr.
HSTA President
Logan Okita
HSTA Vice President
Lisa Morrison
HSTA Secretary-Treasurer
Aaron Kubo
HSTA NEA Director