SA: Teachers OK longer school days--The agreement, which affects 19 campuses, includes pay raises and more training

Teachers will be compensated for the additional instructional time based on their current rate, rather than getting a bonus or stipend, as has been the practice for voluntary extended learning time programs. Teachers who work for 10 months will get a 17.4 percent pay differential, and those who teach for 12 months will receive a 36.9 percent differential.

A 5 percent wage reduction for all teachers will cut into the differentials, which are based on a 2009-11 salary schedule, Okabe said.

Eighty percent of teachers in affected schools voted in favor of the agreement, a major step under Hawaii's Race to the Top grant. The extra time will cost $11 million in the 2012-13 school year and be paid for with several federal funding sources, the state Department of Education said….

Meanwhile, Okabe has informed the Board of Education that he intends to file a second prohibited-practice complaint to object to the approval last week of proposals to make it board policy that the state move to a performance-based management system for teachers.

The policy additions, which must go through a "consult and confer" process with unions before they become final, require the department to adopt new evaluations for teachers that take into account student academic growth, then use those evaluations when considering pay and tenure.

Under the policy, the department must roll out the revised evaluations statewide in the 2013-14 school year and must use the evaluations and "associated feedback" in personnel decisions by July 1, 2014.

Legislators are also looking at writing into state law a requirement that the state move to a performance-management system for teachers.

Okabe said he has asked the school board to rescind its policy changes.

"We really do not want to go back into court to handle this situation, but we believe that's why there are laws in place," he said.

Statement from Nozoe on extended learning times

News Release from Hawaii DoE February 28, 2012

The state Board and Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) have announced that teachers in the Zones of School Innovation (Nanakuli-Waianae and Ka‘u-Keaau-Pahoa complexes) and at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind (HSDB) voted to ratify an agreement for extended learning time and additional professional development days.

Deputy Superintendent Ronn Nozoe released the following statement:

“This new agreement is a pivotal step in our efforts to ensure that all Hawaii’s high school graduates are prepared for college or a career in today’s global marketplace.

“Additional focused mandatory instructional time for students is critical. Research has shown that extended learning time helps teachers make a greater positive impact on students.

“We believe this investment will result in a better work environment, greater levels of job satisfaction, superior teacher and principal retention rates, and, most of all, significantly improved student achievement in the Zones and at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind.”

AP: Hawaii Race to Top zone teachers approve plan

The Hawaii State Teachers Association said 80 percent of teachers in Waianae and Nanakuli on Oahu and Kau, Keaau and Pahoa on the Big Island, voted in favor of the agreement Monday. The schools are in low-income, low-performing zones that would be most affected by Race to the Top reforms. Teachers at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind in Honolulu were also included in the vote.

The plan calls for one hour more per day, Monday through Thursday, and 12 additional days of teacher training. That would result in about 18 percent more in compensation for the extra time, union officials said….

"The extended learning time agreement in our zone schools is a win for students who will get much needed additional learning time, while fairly compensating teachers for their work," said Wil Okabe, union president.

Teachers who don't want the extra time have an option to transfer out of the zones, Okabe said.

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Precisely as Predicted: Four of a Kind: UPW, UHPA get big Fat Pay Raise—and HSTA suit could give one to HGEA