An update on past news
Wednesday, March 5, 1997
Wednesday, March 5, 1997
On April 2, 1973, the Hawaii State Teachers Association inaugurated the first statewide school strike in Hawaii's history. Public schoolteachers went on strike over implementation of their first collective bargaining agreement.
Their pay increase added to the state's deficit since the 1973 Legislature had failed to enact a new tax bill.
The strike was statewide because Hawaii, unlike other states, has only one school district, administered by the state Department of Education and financed from the state treasury.
Feelings ran high over issues of salary, class size, free periods and the length of the school day. But on April 16 teachers and the DOE announced they had agreed to settle their dispute by arbitration.
With time needed for deal ratification by HSTA members, the strike did not officially end until noon April 19.
Also, facing higher salaries for other state employees, then-Gov. John Burns appointed a commission to study Hawaii's finances and report to the Legislature on how to balance the budget.
Other teachers' strikes were narrowly averted in 1972 and 1984 - and, most recently, last month.