When Kaleo Perry graduated last spring from the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Kahuawaiola teacher education program, employment prospects looked pretty good.
The 28-year-old Maui native secured a full-time, fourth-grade teaching job nearly immediately at Ke Kula O Ehunuikaimalino, a Hawaiian language immersion public charter school near Kailua-Kona.
Perry, a fluent Hawaiian speaker who had worked as a long-term substitute teacher at the school the year prior, called his placement “a natural fit.”
“I fell in love with the students and how they could speak Hawaiian,” Perry said. “I’m very pleased to be able to bring my culture into the classroom and to be able to use my native tongue from my ancestors to perpetuate the Hawaiian culture. That’s all I ever wanted.”
Perry’s ease finding employment — as a homegrown, fully licensed teacher — probably isn’t unusual, because the state has struggled to address high turnover in the profession for years.
According to information provided by the state Department of Education, about 44 percent of new teachers in Hawaii hired in the 2011-12 school year had quit within five years.
Perry is a graduate of Kahuawaiola, one of two teacher education programs offered at UH-Hilo. Faculty and students in both programs believe bolstering them could help combat the teacher retention problem statewide because the vast majority of their graduates work — and remain — in Hawaii.
“Many (other programs in the state), their graduates go all over,” said Kahuawaiola Director Makalapua Alencastre. “They’re not necessarily preparing teachers just for Hawaii. So I think that’s the big difference here. When you look at how we prepare a workforce that’s sustaining our public schools, it’s kind of a dilemma. Every year (the state Department of Education) is recruiting from the outside, and (outside teachers) come here, usually for a short time. So it’s kind of a band aid solution rather than looking long term.”
The teacher ed programs at UH-Hilo are longstanding, but faculty say many people on the island aren’t even aware they exist. Kahuawaiola is a graduate certificate program — part of the UH-Hilo College of Hawaiian Language — which trains budding teachers for statewide jobs in Hawaiian language immersion programs from preschool through secondary levels.
The other program — a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) — is offered through the School of Education. The first three semesters prepare students for licensure. Those who continue for another two semesters earn a Master of Arts in Teaching degree, according to the program’s website. About 24 students graduated from the program last year. Up to 95 percent of graduates each year remain and work on the island — and most find jobs quickly.
“There are several options for (teacher licensure) programs in Hawaii,” said Christopher Curry, a 31-year-old MAT student who moved to the island about 10 years ago. “I think what really drew me in was having the physical classes and also their hire rate is really encouraging — knowing that 90 percent of candidates are placed right out of the program. And for me, not being from here originally, having local connections here really helps to find that job as well.”
Statistics show the number of newly hired teachers with in-state certification has declined in recent years. A little more than 34 percent of new teachers hired statewide in 2014-15 were graduates of an in-state teacher education program, according to DOE employment records. About 44 percent had completed out-of-state programs, and 21.3 percent hadn’t completed a program.
That’s a decline from the 2012-13 school year, when 47.8 percent of new teachers held in-state degrees and 9.9 percent hadn’t completed a program. In 2010-11, those numbers were 52.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. Data from the 2015-16 school year is not yet available.
Each year when school starts, the state has hundreds of vacant teacher positions left to fill. As of Aug. 16 there were still 483 vacant teacher positions statewide, according to the DOE.
The UH-Hilo programs are trying to bolster the profession by drawing interest locally and starting young. The programs recruit primarily in Big Island high schools and at UH-Hilo to create “that pathway for students to teach … on the island,” said Michele Ebersole, professor and chair in the UH-Hilo’s School of Education.
“We really want to recruit those here locally that want to be teachers (who) stay in their communities and give back to their communities,” she said.