Sorry, ma'am, but here in Democrat-run Hawaii your teachers union let's the HGEA and UPW divert most education dollars away from schools and teachers; preferring to spend money on bureaucrats instead of teachers.  There's already plenty of money to provide a generous merit pay system for teachers.  But the HSTA looks the other way while the DOE loots school monies for the enrichment of the two other unions.  Until teachers expose this defrauding of taxpayers, the money for 'teacher raises' will never magically appear.  Hawaii's overtaxed residents leave it to the HSTA to fight to redirect all education dollars to the schools.