State lawmakers are guaranteeing annual raises for public and charter school teachers that can be negotiated into their collective bargaining agreements.
As the legislative session comes to an end, one measure lawmakers have shown praise for is House Bill 1890, which would establish step increases in teacher pay.
The bill notes that Hawaiʻi teachers have the lowest salary in the country — at around $24,400 — when adjusting for cost of living.
It also said that “close to half of teachers in Hawaiʻi are leaving the profession or the State altogether within five years of starting, posing a significant problem for students.”
Having regular pay increases will help solve those issues, advocates of the measure say.
“ When teachers cannot count on predictable year-to-year progression, it becomes harder to commit to this profession in Hawaiʻi,” said Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, who chairs the Senate’s Committee on Education.
She spoke during the measure’s final floor vote Wednesday, when lawmakers passed the measure unanimously.
“The current teacher shortage in Hawaiʻi is happening right now in our classrooms,” she said. “The reality is simple: many cannot afford to stay here. Nearly half of our teachers exit within five years. That kind of turnover disrupts learning, burdens our schools and denies our students of the stability they deserve.”
