The state Department of Education supports the annual 4.5 percent raises an arbitration panel awarded to principals and other educational officers earlier this week, according to a statement released Wednesday by the department.

The four yearly raises, which take effect retroactively to July 2013 and go through June 2017, will cost the state more than $48 million, according to Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s office. The state budget director initially said the raises would cost $14 million, but that covers only the first two years, the Governor’s Office said.

Salaries and benefits for the second two years of the raises will cost approximately $33.5 million.

"We are pleased that the arbitration has concluded and we can move forward in supporting our educators to prepare students for college and careers," state schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said in the DOE statement.

The contract agreement with the Hawaii Government Employees Association’s 850-member Bargaining Unit 6 also establishes a rewards and recognition program for the final two years. According to the DOE, a joint committee of DOE and HGEA representatives led by an outside professional facilitator will determine how to best reward and recognize educational officers from a pool of $200,000 based on their performance evaluation rating.