Substitute teachers received long-awaited and well-deserved good news when a state judge agreed that they've been shortchanged in their pay envelopes since 1996.

Recent estimates of the costs of back pay for the subs have ranged between $15 million and $22 million. That covers the shortfall to the year 2000; the statute of limitations would disallow older claims.

The state Department of Education, struggling with its own budgetary constraints, is contemplating an appeal. While it's not surprising that the state would try to buy time to pay this bill, the more realistic course of action would be to correct the inequity now and be done with it.

Already the state struggles to fulfill its stated need for about 1,000 substitute teachers every day. Advocates for the substitutes report that schools frequently can't secure the temporary classroom staffing they need, with educational assistants, and even security guards, supervising students.

Under these circumstances, postponing the payment of back pay will do nothing to narrow that gap.

Further, Hawai'i's heavy reliance on substitute teachers adds even more urgency to the chronic and worsening shortage of regular classroom teachers. Rather than challenging the ruling on substitutes in court, DOE officials should channel that energy into finding ways of making the certification of new teachers more efficient.

Would-be DOE teachers have related their experiences to The Advertiser, and their frustration is palpable. One, a credentialed teacher in Texas, wrote about beginning her certification process in March and not expecting her certification until the end of this month.

There ought to be a way to speed up that process for teachers holding credentials elsewhere. The route toward certification ought to be more accessible to new teachers through course schedules that make sense for working people as well as full-time students.

For the DOE, Judge Karen Ahn's ruling on substitutes might seem another unneeded burden, but for the taxpayer it's a reminder of a chronic problem that needs immediate attention, not further stalling.