In the latest installment of the back-and-forth of Hawaii’s struggle to uphold its Race to the Top promises, members of the Hawaii State Teachers Association have rejected a contract that included a provision for a performance-based compensation system—one of the measures Hawaii promised to take under the grant. Had the contract been approved, a labor dispute against the state would have been dropped and negotiations on reforms could have begun.
Last month, Hawaii’s progress towards upholding its grant promises was rated “unsatisfactory” by the US Department of Education, which also and placed the state on “high risk” status for having some or all of its grant money revoked. This was all prompted by Hawaii missing a major deadline for implementing financial incentives for teachers to work in low-income, low-performing communities. This deadline was missed due to ongoing teacher contract/labor dispute.
The proposed contract would have continued a 5% pay cut for all public employees (including teachers) to trim down the state budget. After June 20, 2013, teachers would have been put on a separate salary schedule that would have recognized years of service and also allows for a 1% step increase annually under the revised teacher evaluation system included in the contract.
Many observers are wondering whether the US DOE will follow through on its threat. “This is a bit of a double-dare to the US Secretary of Education. This is really a direct challenge to him. Hawaii has really become the poster child for implementation challenges for Race to the Top,” said Frederick M. Hess of the American Enterprise Institute. The rejection of the teacher contract proposal makes it “difficult to do anything but revoke the grant,” said Michael J. Petrilli of the Fordham Institute.
State representatives have urged a compromise, and insist that progress can still be made in other areas despite the labor dispute.
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