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Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Monday defended his decision to impose a “last, best and final” contract offer on Hawaii’s teachers, and in the meantime shared the full details of the amended two-year contract, which went into effect July 1.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association filed a complaint with the Hawaii Labor Relations Board on Friday, saying the unilateral implementation of a “last, best” offer violated teachers’ collective bargaining rights. The state has 10 days from Friday to file a formal response with the Labor Relations Board.

On Monday, Abercrombie’s office submitted an informal response by posting online about the embattled new contract. While he was at it, the governor also shared on his website a PDF file containing made to the 106-page teacher contract.

The share was an about-face for the state, which since June 24 has been mum on exactly what employment terms Abercrombie and superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi were forcing on teachers. A letter from Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi to teachers outlined the basics: a 1.5 percent salary cut, directed pay without leave on non-instructional days and a 50-percent employee contribution to health premiums. Beyond that though, Abercrombie, Matayoshi and Hawaii State Board of Education Chairman Don Horner presented a united front of silence.

Now that the contract amendments are out, it appears Mataoyshi shared the most substantive changes. But now we know the salary schedule cuts are indeed temporary — salaries revert to June 2011 levels after June 30, 2013. The state also plans to meet with HSTA to determine how the salary cuts will affect teachers would otherwise qualify for scheduled pay increases associated with years of service and continuing education.

The imposed contract offer includes a deadline of “no later than the end of the first month of the school year” for providing teachers with orientation about the performance evaluation process and timeline. Before, there was no time element attached to the required orientation.

Finally, the state added a new article to the contract outlining the process for “reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol testing.” Teachers agreed in 2007 to negotiate the terms of random drug testing in exchange for a wage increase, but have since resisted, calling it an invasion of their privacy.

Read the full contractual amendments .

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