[ TEACHER STRIKE ]

---

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / STAR-BULLETIN
Less than one week ago, husband and wife Calvin and Sherry Abe,
both teachers at Pearl City High School, waved signs with colleagues
at the state Capitol as an end to the teachers strike loomed. Today,
teachers statewide are assessing the pros and cons
of their hard-won contract.

Teacher-training
increase means
fewer school days

Officials say the trade-off
gives more quality
time in classes

---

By Christine Donnelly
Star-Bulletin

The number of instructional days in Hawaii's public schools will dip back below the national average to make time for more teacher training, but education officials say that's a trade-off they're willing to make given the increasing demands on educators.

"Time is the most precious commodity. Instructional time is of course the most important, but in order for it to be effective you have to have time for professional development and collaboration," said state superintendent Paul LeMahieu.

With the Department of Education simultaneously making teachers more accountable for overall student achievement and piling on work associated with the federal court consent decree mandating increased services for special-education students, "it's critical that our teachers get a little more time for training and professional development. They should not have to do all this on their own time," said Joan Husted, executive director of the Hawaii State Teachers Association.

The new teachers' contract converts four instructional days to professional development starting with the 2001-2002 school year. Students would not come to school those days and the time would be used to train large groups of teachers in matters important to the whole school or even the entire system, Husted said. One possibility might be a training session on how to use the new computerized data collection system to track the progress of special-education students, she said.

It was only four years ago that Gov. Ben Cayetano made adding instructional days a high priority in HSTA contract negotiations. At 176 days for students and 182 days for teachers, Hawaii's 1996-97 school year was among the shortest in the nation, Cayetano argued at the time.

A teachers strike was averted then when the state offered a substantial raise in exchange for the union agreeing to lengthen the school year. The state's intent was for a school year of 190 days, of which 184 would be instructional days (with students present) and the other six (scattered throughout the year) for teacher preparation, such as getting classrooms ready at the beginning of the school year and posting grades at the end.

But the 190-day calendar proved elusive, with only one school year (1999-2000) actually having that many days. That's because the teacher's contract dictates exactly when the school year must begin and end and "it's usually been impossible to fit 190 school days in between," said Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen.

Teachers are paid for 190 days, even when the school calendar falls short, because the contract specifies the school year shall be "no more than" 190 days.

The 2001-2002 school year is to have a total of 189 days, of which 183 would have been instructional. But converting four days to "teachers only" for professional development will reduce the instructional days to 179, below the American average of 180 days cited by the U.S. Department of Education.

Husted said reducing the instructional time was agreed to quickly in the latest negotiations.

"The general consensus was that just seat time for kids is not as valuable as quality classroom time," she said.

"And quality classroom time happens when the teacher is well-prepared and well-trained."

---

>> HSTA Web site
>> State Web site
>> Governor's strike Web site
>> DOE Web site
>> UHPA Web site