Teacher retention
figures plummet

Only about half of UH's class of 2001
is still teaching in isle public schools

Typically, 80 percent of newly trained teachers graduating from the University of Hawaii go to work in local public schools and stay for at least three years, but just half of the most recent graduates did so, according to College of Education Dean Randy Hitz.

Hitz said yesterday that only 53 percent of the college's Class of 2001 were working for Hawaii public schools three years later, a sharp drop from previous years.

"I was astonished and frightened by that figure," Hitz told legislators at a briefing on efforts to address Hawaii's teacher shortage. "Anecdotally, what I hear is they're going to places like Clark County, Nev., where they can buy a house."

He said after the hearing that he does not know if it is a one-year blip or if it represents a new trend. Hawaii's schools typically have had trouble retaining teachers recruited from the mainland, who face sticker shock over Hawaii's prices as well as culture shock. But local graduates have been a more stable work force.

Members of the House and Senate Education Committees heard from schools Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto, union leaders and the Hawaii Teachers Standards Board about various efforts to draw more people into teaching and to keep them from leaving.

Hamamoto said shortages exist in special education, English, math and science, as well as elementary education, which used to have a surplus. Statewide, 500 classrooms lacked a qualified teacher at the start of this school year, affecting more than 12,500 students, according to the Hawaii State Teachers Association.

HSTA President Roger Takabayashi made a pitch for raising teacher pay dramatically by 2009, to $45,000 for entry-level teachers, $60,000 as an average teacher salary and $100,000 for the "longest-serving and highest-qualified" teachers. Hawaii's starting teachers now receive $36,486 a year, and those at the top of the scale get $66,203.

Takabayashi said better pay would alleviate the shortage as well as help students. He cited a recent national study of more than 1,000 school districts that found every additional dollar spent on more highly qualified teachers netted greater improvements in student achievement than any other use of school resources.

"A shortage of qualified teachers directly and negatively impacts student achievement," he said.

Hamamoto said the biggest exodus of teachers is due to retirement. Other reasons cited by departing teachers include lack of professional support, lack of support from principals, low pay and personal reasons.

She noted that the state faces a dilemma in trying to recruit more qualified teachers while also reducing class size, which exacerbates the shortage.

Senate Education Chairman Norman Sakamoto (D, Salt Lake-Foster Village) and Sen. Bob Hogue (R, Kaneohe-Kailua) expressed interest in establishing full reciprocity with states that have licensing standards similar to Hawaii's, to allow experienced teachers who move here to step right into the classroom without further accreditation.

This school year, 1,421 new teachers were hired, or 11 percent of the 13,094 total public school teachers, Hamamoto said. The ratio of new hires has fluctuated between 11 percent and 13 percent over the last few years.

Hamamoto said it is harder to fill empty spots in Hawaii than on the mainland because of this state's geographical isolation. "Because we aren't contiguous to other school districts, where it may be easy to move around, there are huge shortages in terms of the pool we have to draw from."