STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2669

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2488

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2488 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TEACHER COMPENSATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to make an appropriation to fund an experimental modernization project pursuant to chapter 78-3.5 and make necessary discretionary salary adjustments.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Americans for Democratic Action, Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Democratic Party of Hawai‘i Education Caucus, Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action, Parents for Public Schools of Hawai‘i, Kamehameha Schools, HE'E Coalition, IATSE Local 665, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, Waianae High School, Makawao Elementary School, Kamalii Elementary School, Pahoa Elementary School, Kipapa Elementary School, Laie Elementary School, Kalaheo Elementary School, Kihei Charter School, Ala Wai Elementary School, Kohala Middle School, Hawaii Technology Academy, Waipahu Intermediate School, Moanalua High School, and two hundred ninety-six private individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance and two private individuals.

Your Committee finds that two of the ongoing challenges in public education are the chronic teacher shortage and inequitable teacher pay. Currently, only 53 percent of teachers remain in the Department of Education for five years or more. The Department's 2017-2018 employment report found that voluntary resignations increased from 850 to 1,111 with only about 30 percent being due to retirement. The number of teachers exiting the teaching profession has increased by more than 80 percent since 2010.

Chronic teacher turnover forces the Department to rely on uncertified emergency hires and long-term substitute teachers to fill vacancies. In addition, approximately 1,000 long-term substitutes and emergency hires are not graduates of a state-approved teacher education program. In fact, some are not college graduates.

Your Committee further finds that unlike many school districts around the country, the years of experience of Hawaii educators are not automatically taken into consideration in determining when they earn salary movements. Hawaii public school teachers can only receive increased pay for years of service if those rates are negotiated with the State, which has rejected increases during economic downturns. The current distribution of teachers on each level of the salary schedule is inconsistent and compressed. This contributes to many senior teachers leaving. In many cases, teachers who have a difference of ten or more years of experience have the same salary. Current figures show that 5,942 teachers with between zero and 24 years of service are clustered near the same pay on the salary scale.

In the 2019-2020 school year, the Department experienced a qualified teacher shortage of 973 positions. Three hundred fifty-one of these were in special education. Deficient salaries particularly intensify the teacher shortage in schools in hard-to-staff geographic locations. In these places, housing options are scarce, long commute times result in higher fuel expenses, and fewer community amenities are available. Hawaiian language immersion schools are also disproportionately harmed by the State's low ranking teacher compensation. Of the Department's 161 Hawaiian language immersion teaching positions, only 54 are filled with qualified and licensed Hawaiian language immersion teachers. In August 2019, the Hawaii State Supreme Court ruled that our State Constitution requires the Department to make "reasonable efforts" to provide students with access to Hawaiian language immersion education, making the need to attract and retain qualified and licensed Hawaiian language immersion teachers an urgent priority.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Appropriating $25,000,000 on a non-recurring basis to fund teacher compensation as negotiated and executed between the Superintendent of education and Hawaii State Teachers Association Bargaining Unit five;

(2) Adding:

(A) Special education, hard-to-staff geographic locations, and Hawaiian language immersion programs;

(B) Experimental modernization; or

(C) Some combination of (A) and (B), as categories of teachers whose collective bargaining agreements may be funded by this measure; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2488, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2488, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

________________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair