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The purpose of this page is to provide a starting point for understanding the idiosyncrasies and intricacies of the State of Hawaii Department of Education, particularly as they apply to the substitute teacher. Hopefully this page can serve as the catalyst to assist all of the various individuals working to improve the current situation. The Department of Education has done much over the years for the betterment of the students of Hawaii. There is much more that can be done. It is the hope and desire that this site will help in the process.
Editor's Note: I wrote the above a few years ago when I was under the impression that the Department of Education could not possibly be as screwed up as everyone said. I know now that they were right. A few years ago I stopped teaching as a substitute and filed a worker's compensation claim over the depression  that I experienced from dealing with the DOE.

My personal suggestion to substitute teachers is to think beyond the box. Life is too short to be continually worked over by the DOE. Find other employment. Be anything else and your life will improve.  Aloha Dr. George R. Harker
 
 

http://www.hawaii.gov/jud/ica25615recond.htm

Subject: Substitute Teacher Pay Cut - Please distribute to others
 

       Substitute Teachers' ADVOCATE
 Facts about how Substitute Teachers and all Part-Time Teachers have been underpaid since 1996. This includes all HSTA members that teach Drivers'Ed.or work Summer Session. Greg Knudsen, DOE spokesperson, had it right in 2002, in an e-mail cc'd to Patricia Hamamoto, when he said, "I'm amazed that you think this is just some little back room game". He then went on to say, "How was I to know that you and Davis were rewriting reality to define a  raise as a pay reduction". "This is indefensible". "Once again the DOE looks  bureaucratic and foolish". It appears to substitute teachers the "Back Room Game" continues in 2005.

The DOE plans to cut the pay of all substitute teachers (including retired HSTA members) on Jan. 24, 2005 by 6%. This is a pay cut of up to $152.67 per month for substitute teachers on the same day full-time HSTA teachers will
receive a 4.17% pay raise.

 In 2001, Linda Lingle said, "I agree that a 0% increase shows a lack of  respect for the situation faced by substitute teachers, but it also shows a  lack of respect for the students". What does Governor Lingle call a 6% PAY CUT? What has she done to stop this injustice?

 Effective July 1, 1996 HRS 302A-624(e) states that the per diem rate for  substitute teachers: "Shall be based on the annual entry salary step rate established for a Class  II teacher on the most current teachers' salary schedule". Per Diem Rate =
 Annual Salary divided by 12 months divided by 21 Average Working Days per Month. The DOE has NEVER abided by this law.
 Superintendent Dr. Aizawa testified to the Legislature that the pay rate for substitute teachers would increase as teachers' raises were negotiated. That promise to the Legislature has been broken six times since 1996, with substitute teachers receiving either a pay cut or no pay increase on the  same day teachers received a pay raise. This has resulted in an illegal underpayment of wages for substitute teachers and thus all Part-Time Teachers have been cheated as well. What has HSTA done to help members who also work as PT Teachers? They have helped the DOE cheat you by agreeing to illegal "A entry" pay rates in the 95-99 CBA that were used to underpay all these workers between July 1, 1996 and Aug. 21, 2001. Read the "fine
print" of that contract to see how HSTA agreed to help circumvent HRS 302A-624(e).

 In sworn testimony by Superintendent Hamamoto she admitted: Q: "In fact to be a Class II Teacher, you must have a license, correct?" A: "Yes"
 The DOE and HSTA are now trying to use a MOU negotiated on 10/04/04 (without teacher approval) to claim that a Class I, unlicensed, emergency-hire Instructor at the start of the 04-05 SY is now considered a "Class II  Teacher". Joan Husted testified that the MOU would prevent substitute teachers from getting paid more than HSTA thought was appropriate. She
also  said the MOU was immaterial to the HSTA and its members, but intended to influence the pay determination for substitute teachers. Obviously HSTA has no respect for retired teachers currently working as substitute teachers, since they agreed to help cut their pay by 6%.
 If substitute teachers had already won their lawsuit, all Part-Time Teachers should be making $25.16 per hour to teach Drivers' Education, Teach PT, or  work Summer Sessions. What can you do? Write or call your Legislative
 members and ask them to correct this injustice. If you are a full-time teacher file a grievance about the MOU created on 10/04/04. If you work as a Drivers Education Teacher, file a grievance for not being paid $25.16 per hour. The DOE policy for PTT pay is: Substitute Pay divided by 6 = Hourly Rate. Use HRS 302A-624(e) and the pay rates for a Class II Teacher
 (licensed) before the MOU manipulation.

 Class II Teachers' pay has gone from $25,436 in 1996 to $36,851 on Jan. 24, 2005; while the daily rate for substitute teachers (retired HSTA) increased from $108.54 to $112.53 per day.

          Tracking of Teacher's and Substitute Teacher's Pay

 HRS 302A-624(e) requires that Substitute teacher pay shall equal 1/252 of  the annual salary of a Class II Teacher for each day of work.  The law requires one rate for all substitute teachers in accordance with the Merit Principle Law of "Equal Pay for Equal Work". The data below shows that the DOE violated this Hawaii Statute after it became law on July 1, 1996. The
 per diem rates actually paid to substitute teachers do not compute mathematically to the rates found in the collective bargaining agreements  with HSTA since 1996. Note that substitute per diem is calculated using 252 working days per year, while teachers and unlicensed instructors only work 190 days per year. The annual salary rates used here are for the lowest pay step in effect under the current contract at that time. Since the law calls for a mathematical proportion, substitute teachers should have received the same percentage of pay increase as teachers. If HSTA had negotiated in good faith and in accordance with law, instructors would have also received the same percentage of pay increase along with step movements given to licensed teachers. Retired Teachers working as substitute teachers were paid at the  Class III per diem rate shown below from July 1, 1996 until April 16, 2002  when the DOE began calculating the per diem rate of retired teachers,  working as substitute teachers, using the salary of an unlicensed,  emergency-hire instructor.

 Effective date              Class II Teacher         % change    Substitute Per Diem               % change          What the Per Diem .                                   Annual salary            Inc. (Dec.)              for Class I, II, & III   rate should have been

 July 1, 1996                    $25,436                                           $93.87   $100.94   $108.54      $100.94

 Feb. 1, 1997                    $28,489                        12%          $93.87   $100.94   $108.54           0%    $113.05
                            Strike averted - schools closed for one day

Aug. 18, 1997                 $29,702                       4.26%       $93.87   $100.94   $108.54             0%     $117.87

 Aug. 18, 1998                 $30,447                       2.5%        $95.75   $102.96   $110.71             2%     $120.82

 Feb. 1, 1999                    $31,403                       3.1%          $97.90   $105.27   $113.20          2.2%  $124.62

 April 2001          Teachers go on strike      May 31, 2001 Gov. Cayetano signs Act 205 into law with funding for substitute pay raises

 Aug. 23, 2001                 $33,039                        5.2%        $97.90   $105.27   $113.20             0%   $131.11

 Jan. 22, 2002                   $33,700                        2%           $97.90   $105.27   $113.20             0%  $133.73

 May 1, 2002       DOE announces that substitute teacher per diem rate will be raised to $133.73 per spokesperson Greg Knudsen

 May 8, 2002       DOE adjusts substitute per diem pay retro-active to 8/23/01 to the amount of $110.71. Pay cut for retired teachers.

 May 8, 2002       DOE adjusts substitute per diem pay for 1/22/02 until 6/30/02 to the amount of $112.92. Pay cut for retired teachers.

 Aug. 20, 2002                  $35,803                        6.24%                         $116.31                           3%      $142.08

 Jan. 21, 2003                   $36,877                          3%                             $119.80                           3%          $146.34

 July 1, 2004                     $38,037                        3.14%                            $119.80                           0%        $150.94

 Oct. 4, 2004         MOU signed by HSTA executives & BOE without a vote by  teachers that reclassified all teachers and instructors.
                              Unlicensed Instructors, with a BA, are classified in this document as "Class II Teacher".

 Oct. 4, 2004                     $28,076                  (26.2%  pay cut)                       $111.41                   (7%  pay cut) postponed

                              This $9,961 annual pay cut was not announced to the media or printed in the Advocate, only given to the court.  Teachers were sent notice that they were reclassified one class higher. This MOU is an attempt by the DOE to circumvent the per diem law in regards to substitute teachers. The only employees actually getting a pay cut are the substitute teachers, including retired teachers. All PT Teachers are being denied a raise by the DOE.

 Jan. 24, 2005                    $28,357                           1%                               $112.53                    (6%  pay cut)     $157.24

                            This contradicts claims in the Advocate that all teachers will get about a 4% raise on Jan. 24, 2005

 Jan. 24, 2005                    $39,625                         4.17%                            $112.53                     (6%  pay cut)   $157.24

                            This is what a Licensed Class II Teachers at the start of the 2004-2005 SY will actually receive after the MOU reclassified them as Class III Teachers. These are the raises released to the media & talked about in the Advocate.
                            The lowest pay rate for a licensed teacher will be $36,851 after Jan. 24, 2005    (1/252 = $146.23).

 If all licensed teachers are getting a step movement plus 1%  (4%+ total) and all unlicensed, emergency hire Instructors are getting a 1% - 4% increase; then why are all substitute teachers (including retired teachers) getting a 6% PAY CUT? This does not correlate.

January 22, 2005

Judge Karen Ahn
District Court (O`ahu - First Judicial Circuit)
Kauikeaouli Hale
1111 Alakea Street
Honolulu, Hawai`i 96813-2897

Aloha Judge Ahn,

With all due respect your decision to allow the substitute teacher pay cut was wrong on several levels. The rather dubious standard of "irreparable harm" is impossible to quantify.

While perhaps an insignificant amount of money to some, to a family with a modest income, a decrease of $2,400 or more a year is debilitating.  That money pays for gas, it pays for food and other necessities.  I remember when we substitutes got our long-awaited raises, we all agreed that even this relatively small amount of money helped our quality of life.  We made commitments based on our expected income such as mortgages or car payments. 
We thought we had a contract.  Enclosed is a copy of mine.  I think you'd agree that we had a reasonable expectation that we would receive $119.32 per day for the 2004-2005 school year.  It says so in black and white and is signed by Hamamoto.

Now out of nowhere comes a pay reduction, agreed to by a union that doesn't represent us.  It's like a slap in the face except the pain lingers.  Is this what substitute teachers deserve?

Both my husband and I are hard working substitutes with education, experience and dedication.  For us this pay cut amounts to a decrease in household income of over $300 a month.  Who knows what is waiting down the road as a result of, what is to us, a significant reduction in income?  This pay cut could set in motion an unfortunate series of events for many.  I submit that "irreparable harm" is unknowable and subjective.

Yet this is not just an issue about money.  It's also about respect, appreciation and morale.  Perhaps we have no legal right to being appreciated, but it is a moral imperative or should be, especially in education where it is essential to set a good example. It is also good management.  Happy workers equal good work.  Unhappy workers will do nothing to enhance education.  Unhappy workers don't' put their heart and soul into their work and they don't stay around long .

And students, when they see the way teachers are treated, don't become teachers.

In a state with a teacher shortage, what could the DOE possibly be thinking?  Why us? Why are substitute teachers being targeted for a pay cut effective the same day regular teachers get raises?  Could it be  because we are not allowed union representation and therefore perceived as most vulnerable?

The DOE has treated us as though we were as disposable as tissue for years but this pay cut is a severe blow.  The DOE could lose it's best substitutes.  Morale is at an all time low.  The very people (about 500) who are filling in for long-term teacher vacancies are getting a pay cut.  They do all the work of a regular teacher and get paid less. There are no sick days, medical benefits or paid vacation.  Basically they do all the extra work for nothing.  (I won't do long-term anymore.  If I factored in all my time, I'd make $10/hour.)

Please do not allow the DOE to get away with this short-sighted and self-serving scheme.  Taking money out of the pockets of dedicated substitutes is not the way to get their house in order.  Please reconsider your decision.  If the law will not stand up for us, who will?

Sincerely yours,
 
 

Jamie David
Substitute Teacher
Hawaii Public Schools13 years
 
 
 
 

The following excerpted material is particularly useful to understanding the current state of affairs within the Hawaiian Department of Education.

    "For a newcomer to this state, and especially for anyone who plans to work and live as part of the community, identification of general and positive stereotypes of the Japanese as seen by others might be useful. For example, the Japanese like to be seen as possessing qualities of personal cleanliness, orderly behavior, and stoicism under physical pain and poverty; they also like to be know for their appreciation of hard, meticulous, and completed work with an overlay of thrift.
    In addition, the Japanese are oriented to the group rather tan to the individual. They feel a deep sense of obligation to family, village, and country. Moreover, the loyalty and obedience of a child toward parents and siblings are the basic virtues which are prototypes for other loyalties. Outward expressions of respect and consideration for the aged and love for children are a common observation the Japanese. The good name of the family (or other unit) takes precedence over all personal considerations. Personal achievement is valued for the honor it brings to the family and, reciprocally, humiliation of the family is the ultimate shame.
    Finally, there seems to be a keen awareness and acceptance in the Japanese of a well-defined hierarchy whether it be in the family, institution, or society in general; there is comfort in knowing one's place in the hierarchy."

Page 82, People and Cultures of Hawaii, A Psychocultural Profile edited by John F. McDermott, Jr.; Wen-Shing Tseng; Thomas W. Maretzki; The University Press of Hawaii 1980.
 
 

Dr. George R. Harker recommends that Hawaii substitute teachers sign up for unemployment benefits for summer in the next few weeks.

Past denials have been contrary to law. This matter is now before the Hawaii Supreme Court where it should be resolved one way or another.

Additionally the matter will be heard in the 2nd Circuit Court on June 4, 2003. The outcome will be posted on this web site.

Historically the State of Hawaii paid unemployment benefits from 1977 to 1997. The state followed the guidelines of the Federal government that states that if the chances for employment are the same before and after an interim period or between academic terms Unemployment need not be paid for the period.

In 1997 the DOE took the position that employment opportunities were the same the beginning of June as they were in the fall, thus unemployment need not be paid. Of course what they are purposely overlooking is that there is an interim period of about one week and then summer school sessions begin. Employment opportunity drop substantially and the DOE can not assure the same employment opportunities at all.

A Federal directive discusses the interpretation of the interim period and between academic years in some depth in 1987. It is clear that unemployment benefits must be paid. That was the interpretation of the state of Hawaii in 1987 and the next ten years.

In 1997 the DOE deliberately choose to misinterpret the 1987 Federal directive in a manner detrimental to today's substitute teacher.

Bottom line! Apply for unemployment benefits this summer. You may get them for a change!

Those who don’t have degrees receive reprieves
Friday May 9, 2003 Maui News

By CLAUDINE SAN NICOLAS
Staff Writer
WAILUKU —— To prevent staffing shortages in rural and remote areas, public school educators reversed themselves and announced this week that they will allow substitute teachers without college degrees to return to work next school year.

George R. Harker, "Being a Substitute Teacher in Hawaii -- Index Page -- Latest Developments," Dr.Leisure Online Edition,
http://www.DrLeisure.com/SubstituteHawaii.html, since May 11, 2003

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