SB 1273: RELATING TO EDUCATION.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that average salaries for teachers in Hawaii generally fall in the middle of national rankings of teachers' pay.  However, once the salaries of teachers in the State are adjusted for the cost of living, they are paid the lowest in the nation.  The national average salary for all teachers stands at approximately $30,086, when cost of living is considered.  However, the average starting salary for teachers in Hawaii is $24,409, when adjusted for the cost of living.

     Furthermore, the legislature finds that close to half of the teachers in Hawaii are leaving the profession or the State altogether within five years of starting, posing a significant problem for students.  Slightly more than nine hundred teachers were hired in 2013, but as of 2018 fewer than four hundred seventy of them remained in the classroom.  Within the last five years, the number of teachers leaving Hawaii has increased to seventy-one per cent.  Only fifty-one per cent of teachers hired during the 2013-2014 school year were still teaching in Hawaii five years later, a decrease from fifty-four percent during the previous year.  As the State continues to address matters of teacher recruitment and retention, it is crucial to support current teachers now.

     The purpose of this Act is to provide automatic step increases in teacher and educational officer salaries for each year of satisfactory service completed.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part III to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§302A-     Salary increases; annual, longevity.  (a)  Pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement negotiated for bargaining unit (5), teachers and educational officers who have completed a year's satisfactory service and who have complied with the other requirements of sections 302A-602 to 302A-639, and 302A-701, as applicable, shall be entitled to an annual increment.

     (b)  Teachers and educational officers who have served satisfactorily for three years in their maximum increment step or in any longevity step and who have complied with the other requirements of sections 302A-602 to 302A-639, and 302A-701, as applicable, shall receive longevity step increases; provided that the board may grant principals and vice-principals longevity step increases more frequently than once every three years pursuant to section 302A-625."

     SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Report Title:

Salaries; Teachers and Educational Officers; Annual Increases

Description:

Pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement negotiated for Bargaining Unit (5), provides annual salary step increases for public school teachers and educational officers who have completed a year's satisfactory service and comply with specified requirements.

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