Educational assistants and vice principals in the state’s schools would see increases in their base salaries under an in-principle agreement with the Department of Education and the Hawaii Government Employees Association, Gov. Josh Green announced on Thursday.

The proposal needs to be ratified by the respective HGEA bargaining units before it can go into effect.

The average base salary for educational assistants would jump from $35,425 to $40,611 and vice principal pay would go from $96,912 to $116,292, starting in the 2024 fiscal year.

“These salary adjustments recognize the increasing and evolving responsibilities of these roles and align with the Board of Education’s strategic plan priority around ensuring all of our public schools have a high-quality workforce to improve student success,” Green said in the release.

The DOE has 2,550 educational assistants statewide and currently has 600 vacancies. The proposed salary adjustments would increase their annual salary by an average 8% over two years. The 379 vice principals would shift from their 10-month status to year-round employees, in line with school principals.

“This move will help our schools attract and retain experienced professionals who are essential to advancing public education in Hawaii,” DOE Superintendent Keith Hayashi said. 

HGEA Executive Director Randy Perreira said the association looked forward to continued collaboration “to address wage and recruitment issues for other DOE employees to ensure high-quality services for our students.”

The estimated cost to increase compensation for the educators will be $13 million in fiscal 2024 and $20.5 million the next fiscal year, the governor’s release said.

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.