TEACHERS' CONTRACT VOTE COUNT OUT TODAY

Roughly 1,900 absentee ballots from Hawai'i State Teachers
Association members could make or break a tentative agreement to
increase pay for teachers by as much as 11 percent over the next two
years, according to Roger Takabayashi, the association's president.
And until all results are in tonight, the union is not saying how
members voted during statewide elections last Thursday.

"Telling people we know which way it's going can influence the
absentee voting," Ta-kabayashi said.

Four months of formal negotiations between the state and the teachers
union culminated April 20 in a tentative agreement to raise salaries
4 percent at the start of the next school year, with a step movement
of about 3 percent in the second semester for teachers with
satisfactory performances and another 4 percent raise at the start of
the 2008 school year for all, according to a press release from Gov.
Linda Lingle's office.

If approved, the raise would boost pay for entry-level teachers from
about $39,000 to $43,000.

The two-year contract -- which would take effect July 1 of this year
and expire June 30, 2009 -- also calls for random drug and alcohol
testing, which could be the deciding factor in how teachers vote,
Takabayashi said.

Tom Perry, director of the union's Kaua'i office, confirmed Monday
that the vote is "extremely close." This year's negotiations also
mark the first time that the union asked its members to vote on a
contract without a recommendation from the board of directors.

The hot-button issue for teachers, Perry said, is the random drug
testing proviso and, more specifically, the fact that it was
presented as non-negotiable during the 23rd hour of negotiations.

"I've heard (teachers) are angry with the governor for the way in
which she imposed this upon them," Perry said.

The union's negotiating team had been working for months on language
for drug and alcohol testing involving reasonable suspicion. But the
random testing clause for all staff came as a surprise, Perry said.

According to the governor's office, the Department of Education and
the union will work to develop a program for the random testing if
the contract is accepted. Perry said there are a lot of questions to
be addressed about its implementation such as whether a teacher with
a false positive test result would be removed immediately, placed on
paid suspension or allowed to test again.

Kapa'a High School Registrar and union member Elaine Denny voted last
week and thinks the deal is fair, especially since the Hawai'i State
Teachers Association will be involved in creating the testing
procedures. She said she trusts the union to represent teachers' best
interests when deciding who will have access to test results and the
method of selecting teachers for testing.

"Random drug testing will come sometime, if not now," she said. "I
accept it if it comes."

But Kaua'i Chapter President Jeri Yamagata, also the student services
coordinator at Kaua'i High School, said many teachers on her campus
don't trust the governor or the Department of Education to look out
for teachers because the agreement lacks specifics.

"As they say, the devil is in the details," she said.

Because Yamagata also serves on the board of directors, she could not
offer her own opinion on the matter, but she emphasized that child
safety is the No. 1 priority for the union and that it fully supports
reasonable suspicion drug testing.

Still other teachers say the drug testing clause has overshadowed the
real issue: pay.

"Teachers have not ever yet in my 20-plus years (of teaching) been
offered a fair raise," said Judy Gardner, a Kapa'a High School
American history instructor.

Gardner, a union member since she started teaching on Kaua'i more
than two decades ago, said the vote will reflect whether teachers
agree that the compensation offered is, in fact, a raise and not just
a cost of living adjustment.

"If anyone would like to come and walk in my shoes to see if we
deserve the money, I wholeheartedly welcome them," Gardner said.

Jo Thompson, who has taught at Kilauea Elementary for the past 12
years, agrees that the focus should be on the raise, which she said
doesn't match the rate of inflation or the challenges of the job.

"You wouldn't believe the stuff we go through," she said.

Thompson, who has a total of 19 years' experience teaching and a
master's degree, said the random testing clause should have been
proposed separately from wages, especially since it is a
non-negotiable point for the state. And she doesn't think teachers
should be singled out.

"I understand where the governor is coming from," Thompson said, "but
is her staff being tested and are all government employees being tested?"

Marie Laderta, director of the Human Resources Development
Department, negotiates contracts on behalf of the state for the
teachers, police officers, firefighters, government employees, public
workers and police unions. She served as chief negotiator in talks
with the Hawai'i State Teachers Association and said finalizing the
deal hinges upon the union's vote to accept or reject.

If the union rejects the contract as is this week, it could return to
the bargaining table, pursue arbitration or strike, Laderta said.
Should the union and the state return to negotiations, funding for
any future agreements would have to be approved by the Legislature
early next year when it reconvenes. Retroactive pay increases for the
school year beginning this August would not be guaranteed but could
be negotiated into the contract.

Once the issue is settled, Human Resources Development will begin
preparing as early as the end of this year for the next round of
contract negotiations.

Laderta said many of the contracts are set at two years because of
the administration's preference, not by law.

"The governor wants to be prudent and take two years at a time," Laderta said.

Approximately 99 percent of Kaua'i's 725 teachers are union members,
according to the Kaua'i office.

Voting on-island last week took place at polling stations at Kapa'a,
Waimea and Kaua'i high schools. According to Perry, there was a strong turnout.

Certified results from the union-wide vote, including absentee
ballots, will be announced today, between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.