The Pentagon launched its Troops to Teachers program in 1994 as the American military was shrinking its post-Cold War forces and thousands of retiring members of the armed forces sought civilian jobs.
Today, the value of the program is as clear as ever.
The draw down of American military personnel in Iraq at the end of last year and the need to replace baby boomers retiring from the teacher rolls during a struggling economy make the case for the state to continue, and if possible expand, its participation in the program.
Hawaii’s public school system has hired 37 Troops to Teachers participants since 2006, including nine last year. Meghan Stidd, the program’s director for Hawaii and Guam, expects more hires among military veterans over the next few years. Participants qualify for as much as $10,000 in bonuses if they agree to secure a teaching certificate and teach in high-poverty areas.
Several programs have helped former members of the military rejoin the civilian economy, such as Hire A Hero, a social networking site for members of the military and employers interested in hiring them, and Military Exits, a site for job listings, career fairs and other resources aimed at job-hunting military veterans.
Troops to Teachers is one of the most successful operations, an effort by Congress and the Clinton administration that has continued to provide important assistance over nearly two decades. Since its inception, it has matched enrollees by their backgrounds in mathematics, science, foreign languages and organizational skills with the needs of school districts facing teacher shortages. It also brings male and female minority role models into inner-city classrooms. Nationally, 14,000 members of Troops to Teachers have been hired by schools.
Most of the past military members in Hawaii’s Troops to Teachers program sought certification and jobs on the mainland, but some of the new teachers are expected to remain in Hawaii. That could increase as the state begins offering an alternative teacher certification program, which it has pledged to do in the next few years.
That is important. Teachers at some of America’s most elite private high schools have faculties with advanced degrees but largely without teacher certification, since their college majors were not in education. Biology may be taught by a doctor, for instance, or Japanese by a former business person who worked in Japan.
Another program, called Teach for America, has been in the forefront of finding ways for college graduates to qualify for teaching jobs by completing an intensive six-week training session. The success of those teachers has been welcomed in public schools.
Since the program’s inception, the Pentagon steered applicants toward states where they can earn their certificates on the job. Hawaii’s public schools have the potential to draw more teachers with broad experience into the state’s system by employing more flexible certification requirements and programs like Troops to Teachers.
