The HSTA reports, under the current contract, some teachers make as little as $31,044, while top pay is just over $75,000.

"Can it be better? Sure it can be better," said Matayoshi of the state’s educational system as a whole.  "But, the idea is improvement.  It's not this 'gotcha' thing.”

The current pay scale reflects a 5 percent pay cut from the previous 2008-2009 contract.

But the teacher’s pay scale is not so cut and dry.

There's also a dizzying number of pay scales, penalties and incentives based on education, experience, and the big debate: evaluations.

This month, HSTA is compiling data from four days of October town hall meetings.

Before the end of the year, they'll be polling teachers on how they want those evaluations to be done.