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License law
to force out
267 teachers

Children will lose, one principal
says, but a bill to keep unlicensed
teachers frustrates
calls for quality

By Crystal Kua
Star-Bulletin

Corinne Shinn didn't start out as a special-education teacher.

But with a preschool background and a love of working with children, she was hired as a part-time special-education teacher in October 1997 at Pearl Ridge Elementary School.

Now, everyone at the school says her work with special-needs students has made her an invaluable member of the faculty.

"She's very nurturing and she's very knowledgeable about the special-education program," Principal Ray Sugai said. "Many of the children have made tremendous gains."

But Shinn could lose her job at the end of the school year over what some are calling a technicality.

Shinn is one of 267 teachers who are the first to face termination because their three-year teaching credentials are scheduled to expire by June 30. The credential is a temporary teaching license.

The Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, created in 1995, sets the standards for credentials and licenses.

The 1997-98 school year was the first time that teachers were required by law to obtain from the Department of Education either a license or a credential to teach in a public school.

Credentials are issued to teachers who have not yet met the licensing requirements but are actively pursuing a license by either working toward completion of a teacher education program or by passing the national teacher competency test. Credentials are renewable each year for up to three years.

By law, credentialed teachers can't be rehired by the department if they aren't actively pursuing a license during this period or if they don't get a license before the three years are up.

A bill now before the Legislature proposes to give the teacher standards board the authority to extend credentials for up to two years on a case-by-case basis.

Sugai and others at Pearl Ridge Elementary say that Shinn has been seeking certification but, because she was forced to change programs early on and courses were not readily available, time will run out before she completes the process.

"In her situation, she is an exemplary teacher in the classroom, she's been consciously taking the necessary courses and she's getting good grades; but the way the guidelines are set up, at the end of the year, she will not teach here anymore," Sugai said.

"For me, I really like this job," Shinn said. "I really enjoy working with the students. Basically, I feel that no matter what the disability, they are able to learn."

"In our situation, if this bill doesn't pass, we would loose Mrs. Shinn, and she will be replaced with a novice teacher," Sugai said. "So, the ones who lose? Our kids."

The credentialing process came about in response to the Department of Education's need to fill teaching positions in areas where there are shortages. Special education is one of those areas.

Albert Yoshii, the department's personnel chief, said the Felix consent decree -- a federal mandate to improve mental health and educational services to special-needs students -- created a need for more special-education teachers. "We're looking for every single way to increase the pool of eligible special-education teachers."

Yoshii said there are hundreds of special-education teachers like Shinn who are trying to fulfill the licensing requirements, but the clock is ticking.

"The fact that they are running out of time, there is a need for exceptions, there is a need to be compassionate," Yoshii said.

But some say granting credentials leads to the continued use of unqualified teachers.

The newspaper Education Week in this year's Quality Counts report, which focused on teacher quality, criticized states like Hawaii for "loopholes" -- such as credentials.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association also opposes credential extensions.

"We want qualified and quality teachers in the classroom. One point of quality control is at hiring. Only those meeting the licensing requirement must be hired," HSTA president Karen Ginoza said in testimony before the Senate education committee recently.

The Hawaii Teachers Standards Board also supports the legislation, but it also wants the bill to give the board the ability to set criteria for granting extensions and to develop the procedure for requesting an extension.

Board Chairwoman Twylla-Dawn Steer told lawmakers that the board was initially told by the department that only a handful of individuals would be affected because, through no fault of their own, they couldn't get access to preparation courses.

Steer said, however, the board was then told that out of the 267 credentials set to expire this year, 176 belong to individuals who have repeatedly failed at least one section of the three-part teacher test.

They did not "fit the original description of being a victim of inaccessible courses," she said.

Yoshii said that in those cases, teachers have completed an approved teacher preparation program and have made an effort to pass the test, but for some reason haven't been able to do so.

Sharon Mahoe, executive director of the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, said, "I think some members of the board might say if the standards have been set and the assessment chosen is not met, then maybe there comes a point when you have to say, 'No.'

"You don't set standards that everyone can pass."