Provides annual salary step increases for public schools and public charter school teachers who have completed one year's satisfactory service and comply with specified requirements, if negotiated into a collective barga, the official text

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1890

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

H.D. 3

STATE OF HAWAII

S.D. 2

C.D. 1

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that average salaries
for teachers in Hawaii generally fall in the middle of national rankings of
teachers' pay.  However, once the
salaries of teachers in the State are adjusted for the cost of living, they are
the lowest-paid in the nation.  The
national average salary for all teachers stands at approximately $30,086, when
cost of living is considered.  However,
the average starting salary for teachers in Hawaii is $24,409, when adjusted
for cost of living.

Furthermore, the legislature finds
that close to half of teachers in Hawaii are leaving the profession or the
State altogether within five years of starting, posing a significant problem
for students.  Slightly more than nine
hundred teachers were hired in 2013, but as of 2018, fewer than four hundred
seventy of them remained in the classroom.
Within the last five years, the number of teachers leaving Hawaii has
increased to seventy-one per cent.  Only
fifty-one per cent of teachers hired during the 2013-2014 school year were
still teaching in Hawaii five years later, a decrease from fifty-four per cent
during the previous year.  As the State
continues to address matters of teacher recruitment and retention, it is crucial
to support current teachers now.

The purpose of this Act is to
provide automatic step increases in teacher salaries for each year of
satisfactory service completed, subject to funds appropriated by the
legislature.

SECTION 2.  Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as
follows:

"§302A-   Salary increases; annual, longevity.  (a)
Teachers who have completed one year of satisfactory service and
complied with the requirements of sections 302A-601.5 through 302A-642 and
section 302A-701, as applicable, shall be entitled to an annual increment if
negotiated into a collective bargaining agreement under section 89-9, subject
to subsection (c).

(b)  Teachers who have served satisfactorily for
three years in their maximum increment step or in any longevity step pursuant
to section 302A-624 and have complied with the other requirements of sections
302A-601.5 through 302A-642 and section 302A-70l, as applicable, shall be
entitled to longevity step increases if negotiated into a collective bargaining
agreement under section 89-9, subject to subsection (c).

(c)  Any collective bargaining agreement
negotiated pursuant to section 89-9 that provides for annual increments or
longevity step increases under this section and requires the expenditure of
public funds shall be subject to funding by a specific appropriation enacted by
the legislature.  The collective
bargaining agreement shall not be effective or enforceable unless the
legislature appropriates sufficient funds for its implementation.  The legislature may reject the collective
bargaining agreement in whole by declining to appropriate the funds necessary
to implement it."

SECTION 3.  Chapter 302D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as
follows:

"§302D-   Salary increases; annual, longevity.  (a)
Teachers who have completed one year of satisfactory service and
complied with the requirements of this chapter that pertain to the employment
conditions and compensation for teachers, as deemed applicable by their
employing public charter school, shall be entitled to an annual increment if
negotiated into a collective bargaining agreement under section 89-9, subject
to subsection (c).

(b)  Teachers who have served satisfactorily for
three years in their maximum increment step or in any longevity step, if any,
and have complied with the requirements of this chapter that pertain to the
employment conditions and compensation for teachers, as deemed applicable by
their employing public charter school, shall be entitled to longevity step
increases if negotiated into a collective bargaining agreement under section 89-9,
subject to subsection (c).

(c)  Any collective bargaining agreement
negotiated pursuant to section 89-9 that provides for annual increments or
longevity step increases under this section and requires the expenditure of
public funds shall be subject to funding by a specific appropriation enacted by
the legislature.  The collective
bargaining agreement shall not be effective or enforceable unless the
legislature appropriates sufficient funds for its implementation.  The legislature may reject the collective
bargaining agreement in whole by declining to appropriate the funds necessary
to implement it."

SECTION 4.  New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.