Hawaii teachers burning the midnight oil

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Hawaii's teachers are apparently burning the midnight oil.

In a recent "study" by the Hawaii Department of Education and the state's teachers union, Hawaii teachers are reporting that they are regularly working more than 15 hours a day.

A special "Time Committee" came up with the estimate, using two surveys of teachers at "conventions and other events."

When state board members questioned the validity of the study, the Time Committee couldn't provide details on the number of teachers that participated in the primary survey. However, they then commissioned a second survey of 800 teachers that apparently validated the results, union officials said. The report has recently received significant play in the The Honolulu Advertiser.

The union and state joined forces, it seems, out of their shared disdain for the Feds--laying the blame for teachers' excessive workload squarely at the feet of, you guessed it, No Child Left Behind.

"All of these mandates and initiatives have come down on us," Hawaii State Teachers Association representative Karen Shindo told the Advertiser. "It's a dilemma."