Sub teachers sue
over pay cuts

A group of substitute teachers has filed a second lawsuit on behalf of all Hawaii public school substitutes asking that the Department of Education be prevented from cutting their pay this month.

The department plans to cut substitute teachers' pay to $112.53 effective Jan. 24, the same day a pay raise for full-time teachers goes into effect. Substitutes are currently paid $119.80 a day.

The pay cut is based on a recent memo of understanding drafted by the state Attorney General and the Hawaii State Teachers Association.

It would be the first time that pay for substitute teachers would be cut since the law determining their pay scale went into effect in 1996.

Paul Alston, one of the attorneys representing substitute teachers Allan Kliternick, David Garner, Jo Jennifer Goldsmith and David Hudson, said the memo is a scheme by the Attorney General and the HSTA to create the illusion that substitute teachers are paid the proper rate and that the Department of Education is meeting its statutory obligations.

"It's a shabby stunt," he said.

Department officials could not be reached for comment.

Last year, the department and HSTA rewrote the salary schedule to use new terminology that moves substitute teachers lower on the salary scale at the rate paid to unlicensed instructors, Alston said. The law requires that substitutes be paid based on rates paid to licensed teachers and not unlicensed instructors, he said.

Alston said the substitutes are seeking damages based on the recalculation of their pay scale and back pay from the beginning of the current school year. They are expected to file a motion shortly seeking an injunction against the department.

A lawsuit filed by the same group of substitutes last year sought $25 million in back pay from 1996 to the end of the 2003-2004 school year. Circuit Judge Karen Ahn ruled in December that the statute of limitations prevented them from seeking back bay prior to Nov. 8, 2000. The amount they are currently seeking is $15 million.

There are about 5,000 substitute teachers statewide, with about 900 working on any given day, according to Alston.