Recruiting high-quality teachers is a top priority for DOE
Every summer, the state Department of Education’s (DOE) Office of Human Resources works hard to fill vacancies caused by various transitions.
From the end of one school year and the start of another, we are adjusting to the movement of hundreds — even thousands — of employees.
Filling teacher vacancies is one of the greatest challenges, as Hawaii shares the national trends of increasing teacher shortages and fewer numbers of individuals entering the profession.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, from school year (SY) 2009-10 through SY 2012-13, there was a 30 percent decline nationwide in enrollment in teacher preparation programs.
To date, there are approximately 460 teacher vacancies for SY16-17, including non-classroom teachers like librarians and registrars.
Schools are still in the process of interviewing applicants and we are still in the process of adding applicants to the hiring pool.
Between now and Oct. 1, principals will be looking at student enrollment and making final decisions about where teachers are needed for their schools.
News reports have recently floated the teacher vacancy number of 1,600 for SY16-17. However, this number represents the highest estimate of possible vacancies the DOE may see throughout the school year, including mid-year vacancies.
During SY14-15, we experienced 1,069 voluntary teacher separations.
One-third of these were due to teacher retirements; another nearly one-third were identified as involving relocation to the mainland, whether for personal, employment or military reasons.
During the same year, we also hired 1,090 “new” teachers.
We are continuously recruiting and work closely with the schools to figure out their areas of need throughout the year.
As we compete with other education entities in Hawaii and throughout the country to bring in qualified teachers, our recruitment team participates in online job fairs and both local and out-of-state recruitment drives, advertises in various media outlets and on social media, and collaborates with local institutions of higher education.
In April and May of this year, following Hawaii’s teacher recruiting efforts going viral, we received more than 6,000 applications for teacher positions. The majority of these applications were bogus or from unqualified individuals, but this effort nevertheless resulted in a robust applicant pool that bucked the national trend. We continue, however, to face shortages in critical areas.
The DOE’s process for recruiting teachers is rigorous and comprehensive. We take it very seriously because our employees work closely with our students and we want the best and the most qualified at our schools.
The vetting process starts with a centralized review of an applicant’s qualifications; if they meet the minimum standard, the applicant is then subject to a screening interview.
Upon successful completion of the initial screening, applicants are placed in a “hiring pool” from which referrals are made.
Schools request a list of screened applicants from the hiring pool who meet the criteria identified for a particular opening. The school may request a certain grade level or subject matter expertise; the school may also limit its request to Hawaii-licensed applicants only.
Our principals are empowered in their hiring decisions and our role is to support them by providing quality, vetted applicants and then again on the back-end by processing teachers once they are hired.
Throughout the DOE, students remain at the center of our decision-making. They are top of mind as we vet each applicant, and continuously look for ways to support our educators.
ON THE NET:
See hawaiipublicschools.org for more about DOE jobs as well as information about licensure and certification requirements, salaries and benefits overview.
Barbara Krieg is assistant superintendent for the state Department of Education Office of Human Resources.
18 responses to “Recruiting high-quality teachers is a top priority for DOE”
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Talented and good teachers are invaluable!
I agree that the quality of educators is the key to our Keikis’ success.
Unfortunately this goes directly against the policies and rules of our BOE/DOE/HSTA where the one and only top priority is to take care of #1. Always whining for more money, higher pay, undeserved bonus, higher retirement. Keiki in schools get the crumbs left over as in not enough books or supplies.
Cut 50% of the overhead staff in three mentioned agencies would be a start. Get longer usage out of textbooks, supplies into the classrooms. Fire the 1% of useless, deadwood teachers. Everyone knows who they are, no secret.
What is the definition of insanity? Listening to BOE/DOE/HSTA bureaucrats continually fail to do their jobs, say more money is the answer.
Exactly why the Nei has rightfully earned the title “Least intelligent state in the world. Ref: http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/30553486/hawaii-called-least-intelligent-state-in-analysis
The reality really is, great or good teachers, will not always come to Hawaii. The money and prestige, is greater everywhere else.
The DOE will always tell teachers, how to teach. DOE really wants, YES Teachers, and not Great or Good Teachers.
To a large extent that is true of all states. That is not unique to the DOE here.
DOE hiring flowchart: family>hired; friends>hired; where you wen grad>hired (if product of local school; bonus points for being a high school athlete; bigger bonus for being all star athlete; instant hire former high school for football players; How can we help you? for local football player who actually attended college on the mainland and made 1 hi-lite reel on espn).
Last person to be hired, after all remaining, mostly incompetent local applicants are exhausted and/or placed in cherry positions: any mainlander.
I know that not being selected can engender a great deal of bitterness but perhaps it was not meant to be. Especially at highly sought-after schools, the process is very competitive. What you described however is not the way hiring is done at that school. If you look at the numbers of teachers with doctorates on staff and the national awards and honors the teachers have received, you will see a different picture. Good luck in the future.
Why did you try to make this about me, rather than the truthfulness of my flowchart? If all those doctorates work so well in Mililani, they could do wonders in our most underserved schools. There is a reason Mililani is a “highly sought-after school.” Upper middle class households with highly educated parents. You make it seems as though the PHDs are doing some great public service. I am convinced that if 2 equally qualified PHD candidates were reduced to a high school athlete and a high school nerd, the athlete will seemingly always get the nod.
I guess we’ll disagree. I do disagree but still hope things work out for you.
Don’t most teachers with doctorates teach at colleges and universities? How many Mililani H.S. teachers have doctorates?
Gonna get some hate replies, but I think there are two things that will help recruit and retain good teachers. First, improve teaching conditions and two, increase pay. Now, right away there will be some who do not read any further than this and claim that teachers already have it good, and GOOD teachers do not teach for the money. But, I will bet that none of the naysayers are teachers themselves. If conditions were so great, and pay was satisfactory, why do we have such a severe shortage? And, why aren’t YOU a teacher if it’s so wonderful? Right now, there are teachers in classrooms hovering at or over 90 degrees every day. They have 25+ (elementary) or 35+ (secondary) students to try to get lessons across while they are also sweltering. There are students who come from broken homes, did not eat anything all day, or are possibly homeless or on the brink of it. There are students with emotional problems, learning deficiencies, and possibly even physical problems. Teachers also have to deal with that. Regarding pay, sure there are great “hero” teachers who would do it for free but honestly, they will need a spouse who DOES get paid well because frankly, SOMEONE has to pay the bills if you want to live in Hawaii. Yes, teachers have bills, too, and with the price of homes exceeding $700,000 on average, a $45,000 a year starting pay will not cover that. Sure, teachers can rent, but even rent hovers around $1800-$2000 per month average. A $45,000 salary means a take home pay of maybe $2500 per month on the high end. So, $500-$700 left over for utilities, food, gas, etc.? So, if I am a bright student ready to go to college and looking for something to do in life that will allow me to have a comfortable living in Hawaii, I am going to look elsewhere….medicine, law, engineering, etc. Either that, or live with mom and dad forever, and/or marry someone who CAN provide a satisfactory living which is what many teachers already do. I can also move to the mainland where in many places, the cost of living is much less, but that’s not going to help the shortage here. You can say that I’m wrong, but YOU explain why we have such a huge shortage?
Can’t really disagree with what you say. There are some other factors also. I’m kind of upset this morning because I got a long note from one of my favorite teachers. She has been recognized previously through a number of prestigious awards as one of the top teachers in the country in her field, she’s been a table leader (kind of a big deal in the AP community) for Readings in multiple AP exams and has been offered positions with the College Board. She’s someone I would trust with my child and would have no reservations about recommending to anyone. She is considering leaving primarily because the ancillary duties and documentation requirements have become so onerous that they are impacting the time she has available to work with students and she feels that students may suffer as a result. She feels it is misplaced to emphasize duties that do not directly impact the education of children and while there will always need to be accountability pieces, (not just in Education but in any job or professional endeavor) I think she’s correct. (and… this is not a teacher with a particular bias toward or fondness for the Union.)
You are correct. I assume you are referring to the EES evaluations? I fortunately retired from education after 35 years, just before the EES was mandated, but I hear from my friends who are still in the classroom that this is a nightmare. It takes them a great deal of time just to put on a dog and pony show for their administrator and students so they can get a good rating. In fact, one of my former colleagues did actually retire after the second year of EES because she just had enough. No matter how many awards you receive or how many great students you turn out, with EES, you must still PROVE that you are a great teacher.
Nicely said. My wife and I were both teachers at one point in our careers. I had to move to private industry to essentially subsidize her desire to continue teaching. My wife gets to school at 6:30 am and leaves at around 5 pm due to afterschool daily meetings. She does not have a lunch because she volunteers to conduct math club tutoring during this time. That is a 10 hour 30 minute shift daily. Then she gets to come home and grade papers for two hours. Over 12 hours a day while getting paid for 7 hours. The other 5 hours is just for “love” of her students. If you add it up, that’s nearly equivalent to 2 weeks of unpaid extra work a month. It’s so entertaining to hear others opine on how “easy” the profession is thinking teaching is a babysitting service. There’s a reason why the burnout rate for teachers is so high. The one’s expecting an easy job quickly discover the reality of the position and move on.
My wife attended Punahou and UPenn on academic scholarship. She has a masters in Math and could teach at UH or KCC. Private schools constantly try to recruit her. Yet, for nearly 30 years, she has been a public school teacher enduring the bureaucracy of the DOE/state, harsh public scrutiny, verbal abuse from parents and physical abuse from kids. Her public school has four teachers from Punahou and two from Iolani. The quality of instruction is better than many private schools yet very few take advantage of it. One of her students transferred to Punahou last year and commented the academic rigor was much greater in her class because she created individual lesson plans for each student.
So the question is: How do you recruit a teacher like my wife present day? You can’t. Even my wife said, if the conditions were like this when she first started, she would have became an actuary or engineer instead. There are so many undesirable characteristics of the profession that only the bottom of the barrel talent would consider teaching. Raising pay is only part of the solution. Reinstitute the National Certification $5,000 bonus for teachers. Properly fund the maintenance and supplies budgets so teachers don’t have to buy light bulbs and printer ink for their classrooms. This year we purchased a new $600 ac for my wife’s classroom because the school didn’t have the money. The profession sucks to the point that my wife is talking of retiring. Whatever changes HSTA can negotiate in this upcoming bargaining session will likely be too late. Damage was done with the way the state and public treated teachers. C’mon, you all really expected teachers to pay $300-500 for their own random drug tests? Even though it’s not their fault the state/DOE couldn’t budget the money for drug testing, teachers took the public opinion hit. No one I talked to wants to be subjected to that type of unfair scrutiny. Kids now have the ability to affect teachers pay raises through their survey. Previously, my grandson gave his second-grade teacher (one of the most amazing I have ever met) a failing survey grade because “she talked loud”. Confirmed with the teacher that she didn’t get the 1% raise for her that year. This year, my daughter changed her major from elementary education to electrical engineering. Smart move, couldn’t be more proud of her.
Guess What? A lot of what you say applies to the mainland too. How many people do you know anywhere that can afford a home when they are just starting out in life with “starting pay”.
The shortage is because the DOE is not utilizing all their teachers in the classroom. Don’t you know how to find out how many teachers we have and how many students we Have?
If you’re really a “bright student”, you would be going to a good university on the mainland and finding a good challenging job on the mainland.
Guess what? Your last sentence proves my point exactly! This is why we have a shortage. BTW, are you a teacher? I thought not.
This DOE talk is really confusing – last week they say that there is a severe shortage of teachers and it is hard to find teachers. Now, they say last year they had 1,069 “separations” and hired 1,090 new teachers. They also say they have “robust applicant pool that bucked the national trend”. So, which is true?
Last week the DOE said they have 1,600 vacancies. Now it is 460 and includes non-teaching positions. So which is true?
The DOE says “we want the best and the most qualified at our schools”. Is that a new “want”? Have they, in the past, really hired the “best and most qualified”? If so, why have Hawaii students performed much worse in standardized tests than the nationwide averages?
Looking at real numbers, there are no teacher shortages. There would be a 13.3 student to teacher ratio which is much lower than most mainland schools (it is like 23.4 in California). The DOE is just not using their teachers in the classroom. What is DOE doing with their 13,500 teachers? Very likely, many teachers are working as glorified bean counters. It is likely that teachers, DOE, and HSTA are putting out information to try to fool the public into thinking that they need HIGHER SALARIES. It is all about MONEY to them.
This article is remarkably lacking in any information of use to readers. The author does not seem even to consider it a problem that one month into the new school year, there are still 460 unfilled teaching jobs, and they are still looking for applicants. How about acknowledging the problems and telling us why they exist and what we can do about them? I agree with the comments suggesting that teachers here are both underpaid and burdened with insane amounts of paperwork and testing obligations. We need to improve pay and working conditions if we want to attract and retain professional-quality teachers.