Two weeks ago, the Hawaii State Teachers Association began negotiations with the state Department of Education on a new contract and there is hope among some of its 13,500 educators that this will be the year the department is willing to address the pay iniquities that place Hawaii’s teacher salaries at the very bottom nationwide when adjusted for cost-of-living.

For those who most closely affect the education of Hawaii’s 180,000 students, it is painfully clear that the state’s compensation priorities have not aligned with its strategic plan goal of “Staff Success,” whose purpose is “to attract, prepare and retain the best teachers.”

While improving teacher salaries might not be a widely shared goal, improving learning conditions for students should be, which means providing students with well-qualified teachers who will remain in Hawaii classrooms because there is incentive to do so.

That’s why it’s a real slap in the face to learn that the DOE is asking for 4.5 percent raises for more than 20 of the highest paid employees in the district. As state Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi says, the money will “assist in recruiting and retaining high quality individuals,” which in the DOE’s judgment is apparently only effective when it applies to top-level executives, whose current beginning salary puts them in the top 10 percent of wage earners nationally.

The department fails to see the efficacy of higher pay when it comes to recruiting and retaining quality teachers and this blindness has resulted in record-high vacancies in teaching positions statewide across diverse subjects. That translates to thousands of students who sit in classes every day without a real teacher.

Let’s consider the significance of the terms “recruit” and “retain” for a moment. Are these six-figure superintendent jobs hard-to-fill positions? Is any one of the individuals current holding these positions threatening to leave because they just can’t make ends meet? And how is it that the department has existing funds to cover these proposed increases, when they are simultaneously asking for across the board cuts in other areas?

For those who most closely affect the education of Hawaii’s 180,000 students, it is painfully clear that the state’s compensation priorities have not aligned with its strategic plan goal of “Staff Success,” whose purpose is “to attract, prepare, and retain the best teachers.”

Is it because the DOE is saving a bundle in compensation and benefits on approximately 1,000 vacant teaching positions, some of which are currently filled with poorly paid substitutes and emergency hires?

During the last legislative session, the teachers association supported legislation that would have provided funding directly for education to address facilities, class sizes and support for small and rural schools as well as teacher recruitment and retention through higher salaries.

I witnessed one of the DOE executives (whose raise is now being considered) stammer without an adequate answer when House Education Committee Chair Roy Takumi asked if the department could handle receiving this extra money for education. Perhaps the extra money isn’t needed at the top, but you’ll find no such hesitation among teachers when you ask them if they could handle more money to do their job.

Support significant salary increases for those working directly with students. Address the infrastructural needs of our decaying public school buildings. Provide funding to offer children a well-rounded education with arts, music and physical education. Then, if there is money left over, maybe we can start talking about pay raises for those executives who helped make these necessary changes happen.