After Hawaii’s public school teachers were denied the two extra paid work days off that Gov. Josh Green offered to salaried state employees for the holidays, the governor said he will propose a $500 annual tax credit in their place.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association confirmed today that Green said he would be proposing the tax credit to the state Legislature, which opens Jan. 18.

A post on the HSTA website said Green told the union: “I appreciate everything our teachers do for our keiki and realize that the current federal $300 teacher tax deduction doesn’t nearly cover what our teachers spend out of their own pockets for their classes. In my upcoming legislative package, I will propose creating a non-refundable state tax credit for teachers worth $500 to account for a portion of those out-of-pocket expenses.”

Green and state Schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi last month had announced that all salaried state employees would be given 16 hours of administrative leave for Dec. 23 and Dec. 30, 2022. But those days fell during the schools’ winter break, so classroom teachers and other school employees already who were already scheduled to be on vacation were found to be ineligible for the special administrative leave.