$28,357 really does not seem like a wage someone could live on in Hawaii.
They lowered the pay of the substitute teachers from $119 to $112 a day -- to fund raises for the highest paid "educational administrators" prior to this contract -- which merely exacerbates this trend of unfairness. So they're making it virtually impossible to get new teachers into the field -- guaranteeing higher paying salaries for those already in it and should be fairly well established. That seems to be the only function of unions these days -- to artificially keep salaries high while limiting those who would do the job in an unrestricted labor market. They create artificial scarcities. If they paid all teachers the same $50,000 and eliminate all those rules and hoops one has to jump through to get the job and stay in favor, it'd be a whole other story.
And of course, classroom achievements must be plummeting to underline the urgency for $100,000 salaries for kindergarten teachers.
They lowered the pay of the substitute teachers from $119 to $112 a day -- to fund raises for the highest paid "educational administrators" prior to this contract -- which merely exacerbates this trend of unfairness. So they're making it virtually impossible to get new teachers into the field -- guaranteeing higher paying salaries for those already in it and should be fairly well established. That seems to be the only function of unions these days -- to artificially keep salaries high while limiting those who would do the job in an unrestricted labor market. They create artificial scarcities. If they paid all teachers the same $50,000 and eliminate all those rules and hoops one has to jump through to get the job and stay in favor, it'd be a whole other story.
And of course, classroom achievements must be plummeting to underline the urgency for $100,000 salaries for kindergarten teachers.
So why should they be lowering new teachers pay to pay more for senior pay of those who aren't even in the classroom?
Sure doesn't. When my wife was looking to get hired on somewhere, the folks from Hawaii were at every single event and job fair she went to. Everyone always came over to their booth and looked - wow, Hawaii! - but after seeing what they were offering, just about everyone realized that the salary levels were such that the only way it was affordable was if you lived in a refrigerator carton under a bridge and ate cat food.