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The 10-month-old case over whether Gov. Neil Abercrombie was wrong in imposing a new contract on teachers is finally coming to a head, clearing the way for negotiatons to resume.

The decision by the Hawaii State Teachers Association to rest its case on Thursday comes as teachers are reconsidering a January contract offer.

Before resting, HSTA made a final pitch to force Abercrombie to take the witness stand in the case before the .

But the board said no.

Deputy Attorney General Jim Halvorson, representing the state, said the governor’s testimony would not have added anything that other witnesses haven’t already brought up in the case.

“To call the governor in to say what everyone else has said is a waste of his time. It’s abusive,” he said. “How many more times can you say the same things?”

HSTA attorney Rebecca Covert had wanted the governor to testify about his policy on the cuts that were necessary to reach a deal in contract negotiations. She said his inflexibility was contrary to good-faith bargaining.

attorney Linda Aragon argued the governor’s testimony on this issue was irrelevant.

“So what if there is a stated goal?” she said, noting that it was unlikely Abercrombie’s testimony would differ from that of his cabinet members.

The state and UHPA, an intervening party in the case, rested their cases immediately after HSTA did. The two-person, quasi-judicial board set a June 15 date to receive findings of fact and conclusions of law, but didn’t say when it would make a decision.

“We appreciate HSTA finally concluding its case as these hearings have been a distraction,” Abercrombie said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “It has hampered our ability to move forward and has been costly for the teachers’ union.”

Board members and attorneys have grown increasingly frustrated as the case has dragged on.

On Thursday, HLRB Chair Jim Nicholson gave Covert less time and fewer pages than she would have liked to prepare her final reports to the board.

“We need to move this thing on,” he said. “Otherwise it’s going to get too out of hand.”

With Abercrombie off the list, the union’s final witnesses appeared last week when the board heard testimony from HSTA negotiations specialist Ray Camacho and newly re-elected President Wil Okabe.

Okabe on Thursday reiterated HSTA’s commitment to defending its constitutional right to collective bargaining.

The case before the labor board is but one of many major issues unfolding in the education world here.

HSTA members started on a contract they shot down in January. The vote is expected to be over by Tuesday.

The governor has said that settlement offer no longer has legal standing, and the teachers union has a different proposal still on the table. But a “no” vote is an authorization to strike, although that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a strike.

Negotiations have been ongoing based on HSTA’s Feb. 28 proposal and the state’s March 19 settlement offer. But the governor noted in his statement Thursday that HSTA has declined the state’s offer to continue discussions after the union cancelled three scheduled meetings.

“It’s my hope that HSTA can now concentrate on negotiating a new contract for teachers,” Abercrombie said. “I encourage its leadership to accept the state’s offer to meet and continue negotiations immediately.”

Okabe said in a statement: “We continue to believe, as the Governor did in January, that the settlement we reached with him, protects Hawaii’s $75 million Race to the Top funding and is in the best interest of students, teachers, and the State. We have actively engaged the largest informational campaign to teachers in our Association’s history. Teachers are now voting. We will reserve judgment on any additional decisions pending the outcome of that vote.”

Meanwhile, federal officials will return in five months to review Hawaii’s progress in meeting the reform requirements of its $75 million Race to the Top grant. The U.S. Department of Education team will reconsider removing the state from high-risk status at that time.