Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Hawaii’s brain drain has accelerated from eroding the edges of island life to striking at its heart, pushing would-be health professionals, high-tech workers, business owners and other vital contributors to greener mainland pastures. Among the most alarming is an outmigration of teachers-in-training who comprise the core of an ailing education system tasked with developing thousands of young learners, some of whom aspire to become teachers themselves. Talk about compounding problems.
House Bill 1345 is an attempt to address Hawaii’s ongoing teacher shortage by doling out subsidies to would-be local educators in return for a multiyear commitment in the public school system. This legislation should pass, though lawmakers must first offer clarity on important — and currently unaccounted for — particulars, funding being a noticeably absent detail.
Specifics have yet to be hammered out in conference committee, but the latest version with Senate amendments directs the state Department of Education (DOE) to cover tuition and fees for residents enrolled at a University of Hawaii campus with a four-year education program. Further, qualified subsidy recipients must be enrolled in a program that requires student teaching hours and, upon successful completion, results in an education degree that will be used to obtain a licensure recommendation from the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board.
A few tweaks were made to HB 1345 when it crossed over to the Senate. Importantly, the bill was rightly amended to compel a full-time commitment at a DOE school, thereby ensuring a tangible return on state investment. How long that term should be remains up for debate, with the Senate passing back a bill requiring at least five years of full-time teaching in an educator’s licensed field. That is a hefty obligation.
In testimony, schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi recommends a more reasonable three-year stint, in line with other DOE scholarship stipend programs. A three-year term makes sense for licensure, as a provisional license — a likely path for new teachers — is valid for three years and can be renewed, while the step-up standard license requires at least three years of full-time experience in a contracted position.
Graduates would be able to use the three-year term toward a standard license while retaining the option to leave once their provisional license is first up for renewal. A palatable compromise.
While arguably more beneficial to the long-term health of DOE, a five-year commitment could backfire, dissuading future educators from taking advantage of the subsidy program or enrolling in a UH education program. In February, similar legislation seeking to boost local medical student retention failed in both the House and Senate, due in part to fears that mandated local work commitments would discourage enrollment and punish doctors unable to find residences in their field.
There is also the not-so-small issue of cost. Rep. Justin Woodson, who introduced the bill and chairs the House Education Committee, is working with UH on an approximated price tag, but said it’s too early to estimate final totals. That information is integral and must be divulged soon. While not a one-to-one, DOE’s Grow Our Own program, which offers scholarships of up to $20,000 toward a certificate in secondary education or master’s degree in teaching, was funded with nearly $1 million in 2023. A well-sized budget for HB 1345 would put dozens of teachers into the DOE pipeline each year.
Something must be done to fill that teaching pipeline, and HB 1345 is a solid start. Closing that pipeline, or retaining good local teachers, is less of an immediate problem after the Hawaii State Teachers Association negotiated what it calls the strongest contract ever in 2023: pay raises totaling 14.5% over four years. Equal consideration must now be given to fresh educators entering DOE’s ranks.
