HONOLULU — Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Monday blasted the latest contract proposal by the union representing Hawaii public school teachers as “fiscally irresponsible” and urged educators to accept a settlement offer submitted by the administration. The Hawaii State Teachers Association responded that it wants to return to negotiations.
The union submitted its latest contract proposal to the administration Feb. 28, after members rejected a contract in January that would have paved the way for promised education reforms but included an evaluation system that teachers weren’t comfortable with.
Abercrombie sharply criticized the union’s effort.
“The HSTA proposal is fiscally irresponsible and devoid of reasonable policy regarding standards and performance,” he said in a statement. The administration’s priority is collective bargaining that is financially sound and that advances student achievement and support for teachers, he said.
Wil Okabe, the association’s president, said the proposal reflects feedback the union received while surveying 13,000 teachers over two weeks earlier this year.
The union’s proposal isn’t fiscally irresponsible, he said, noting the Council of Revenues, which forecasts tax income for the state, has said the economy is steadily improving.
“Teachers have already taken pay cuts for three years. Teachers have to pay more and more for their health coverage. Teachers have made sacrifices, done their part to help the state. And we shouldn’t have to apologize for trying to improve the conditions for teachers,” he said.
Okabe said he looks forward to hearing what dates the administration proposes for negotiations.
The governor’s spokeswoman, Donalyn Dela Cruz, said the offer the administration delivered Friday wasn’t a counterproposal. Since the two sides have been negotiating since 2010, there were no “new concepts in this offer that HSTA is not familiar with,” she said.
The administration didn’t release details of the offer, but the governor said the proposed performance-based evaluation system would prevent “arbitrary personnel consequences.” Abercrombie said the proposal would improve a probation and evaluation system for teachers hired in the future.
A lack of details on the proposed performance evaluation system led some Hawaii public school teachers to vote against the contract in January, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Monday, citing a recent survey funded by the Castle Foundation.
Hawaii is under pressure to reach an agreement with the union so it can implement federal education reforms funded by a $75 million “Race to the Top” grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
The federal government in December admonished Hawaii for its “unsatisfactory” performance with the grant and said the state could lose its money if it didn’t improve. Members of the federal Race to the Top team are due to visit the islands next week.
