Hawai'i public school teachers yesterday ratified a two-year contract that amounts to a 7.9 percent pay cut and will shut down the school system for 17 Fridays beginning in October.

The new agreement also postpones the implementation of random drug testing and guarantees no layoffs for two years.

Officials said the contract was approved by 81 percent of the Hawaii State Teachers Association members who voted at 26 schools across the state. The union needed a simple majority of those who cast ballots to approve the new contract.

An estimated three-fourths of the union's 13,500 members cast ballots, a higher percentage than usual, HSTA President Wil Okabe said.

Several teachers expressed ambivalence. They acknowledged the need to make concessions because of the state's budget shortfall but were concerned about the losses in wages and time spent with students.

"Right now everybody needs to make sacrifices; we understand that. But the students are the ones who will suffer because of this," said Shannon Ka'a'a, a preschool special education teacher at Fern Elementary.

Ka'a'a said she fears her school will have a tougher time meeting the federal No Child Left Behind standards because of the loss in instruction time.

"I'm the kind of person who believes in longer school days, longer school years. We're already shortchanging the children," she said.

Okabe said this is the first contract in recent memory where teachers were asked to make concessions. He also noted it will equate to the most lost school days since the 2001 teachers strike, when 13 school days were missed.

Okabe noted that the agreement on furloughs is substantially less than the three furlough days a month — or 14 percent pay cut — that Gov. Linda Lingle had wanted. Of the $227 million in cuts to the public school system mandated by Lingle, the state Board of Education voted to only seek $117 million in furloughs and labor savings, while cutting the rest in programs and school-level funding.

"No question it will have a big impact on student learning. We're very concerned about that," Okabe said. "Teachers, I'm sure, are going to be very innovative in giving homework, trying to give alternative assignments for kids. But it has to be a collaborative effort for parents."

State Department of Education spokeswoman Sandy Goya said a revised school calendar and resources for parents will be posted on the DOE's Web site at DOE Hawaii.org.

Okabe said the larger-than-normal vote turnout and decisive margin "sends a message that the teachers are aware of the economy." He said he was hopeful that some of the scheduled furlough days could be averted — most likely in the second year of the contract — if lawmakers can come up with more funding.

"We really need the Legislature to step up and put teachers back in the classroom," Okabe said.

The new contract postpones implementation of random drug testing until a court rules it is "constitutionally permissible." However, the state and the union agreed that drug testing of teachers where there is reasonable suspicion of alcohol and drug use will be allowed.

There are pending cases on the legality of random drug testing before both the Hawaii Labor Relations Board and the First Circuit Court.

'A REAL HARDSHIP'

Two years ago, the majority of teachers ratified a contract that granted a 4 percent across-the-board pay increase in July 2007, a salary-scale step increase of 3 percent in January 2008 for some teachers and another 4 percent pay increase in January 2009.

That contract included a provision for random drug testing, but it was never carried out.

Sue-Jan Bone, a kindergarten teacher at Lincoln Elementary, said the pay cut will be "a real hardship" for her family.

Bone said she is disappointed by the loss of classroom time with her students.

"Sitting at home in front of a Gameboy or the television isn't going to do them any good. Ultimately, they're the ones who suffer," she said.

She stood in line to vote at Farrington High School with colleague Molly Alana, who also teaches kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary. She, too, was concerned about the loss of instruction time.

"At that age, kids need practice and repetition," Alana said.

Alana also has two children of her own, one who attends Roosevelt High School and another at Saint Louis School. She said her family will have to trim expenses to deal with the pay cut.

"Tuition alone is $1,200 a month," she said.

Patti Laba, a curriculum coordinator at Dole Middle School, said she was supporting the contract because the other options could be worse, including potential layoffs or three-day-a-month furloughs that amount to a 14 percent pay cut.

"Furloughs are better than layoffs. I don't want teachers to lose their jobs," she said.