The Intermediate Court of Appeals has upheld a 2005 Circuit Court ruling that found the Department of Education underpaid Hawaii substitute teachers millions of dollars.

In the Friday ruling, the court found Circuit Judge Karen Ahn was right in ruling that a 1996 state law required the department to pay substitute teachers the same daily rate as "class II teachers" from 2000 to 2005.

The state paid a lesser rate that amounted to a loss of about $3,000 per year for regularly employed substitute teachers, said Paul Alston, the plaintiffs' lead attorney.

The suit was filed in 2002 by David Garner, a substitute teacher on Maui.

It is unclear when the plaintiffs will receive their back pay.

Lawyers will have to go through the daily records of about 5,000 substitute teachers at the Education Department to calculate how much back pay is owed, which could add up to about $30 million, Alston said.