Nearly 9,000 educators to be properly compensated for their years of service
Posted: July 25, 2022
The Hawaii State Teachers Association hosted a virtual “unretirement” party Monday to celebrate the approval of extra funding that ensures nearly 9,000 Hawaii educators are properly compensated for their years of service.
Most public and charter schools classroom teachers return to work Tuesday to prepare for the new school year that starts next week; and thanks to the state’s pending compression fix, that includes many of the teachers featured during HSTA’s live stream who had previously planned to retire.
Over the years, when the state was low on funds, veteran teachers were denied even small pay hikes, leaving thousands stuck in the middle of the salary scale. This salary compression meant their pay remained low as more recently hired teachers received regular raises.
This year, the state Legislature approved and Gov. David Ige signed into law a state budget that included more than $130 million to fix salary compression, meaning educators could see their salaries increase anywhere from $7,000 to $26,000 in the weeks and months ahead.
“We’re so grateful to legislative leaders for making sure this happened after their original plans to fix salary compression were scuttled two and a half years ago when the pandemic struck,” said HSTA president Osa Tui, Jr.
Several educator members shared their personal stories of salary compression and how a fix will impact their lives, including Melissa Padilla, Campbell High School; Terry Holck, Office of Curriculum and Instructional Design; Mike Hino, Molokai Middle School; and Ashley Olson, Lahainaluna High School.
“Most people look at salary compression as only affecting placement on the salary schedule, but it goes much further than that,” Olson said, who shared that she previously started to pull back on extra duties to prepare for retirement in 2024. “For thousands of teachers who should have made it to the top salary several years ago, salary compression has had a negative effect on our lifetime Social Security earnings as well as our state retirement. It is a lot more than just our current paycheck that takes a hit. Now I have an opportunity to improve my state pension. It means that the students at Lahainaluna High will not lose my institutional knowledge, my love for the school community, my experience, and my expertise for a little while longer. It also bodes well for a stabilization of the teaching force among those who are maybe not as close to retirement as I am.”
Reps. Scott Saiki, State House Speaker, and Sylvia Luke, State House Finance Chair, joined the celebration. They were instrumental in ensuring funding for teacher pay increases that allows our veteran educators to return to the classroom, and continue to share their knowledge and expertise with students.