HILO — Nearly half of new teachers hired in 2011 to teach in Hawaii public schools left the job five years later, and proponents of higher teacher pay say results from a new WalletHub study might indicate why.
Hawaii ranked dead last on the Washington, D.C.-based personal finance website’s list of “2016’s Best &Worst States for Teachers.” Last year, Hawaii ranked No. 46 and in 2014 it came in at No. 47.
WalletHub calculated its scores using 16 factors: average starting teacher salary, median annual salary, income growth potential, average teacher pensions, projected teacher demand, public school enrollment growth, 10-year change in teacher salaries, academic and work environment, ranking on WalletHub’s list of the best “school systems,” annual evaluation requirement for all teachers, teacher effectiveness, pupil-teacher ratio, school safety, underprivileged children ranking, ranking on WalletHub’s list of the best states for “working moms” and public school spending per student.
Hawaii ranked last for starting teacher salary. Adjusted for cost of living, the average starting teacher salary in Hawaii is $24,334 annually, WalletHub said. Adjusted for cost of living, the state’s teachers as a whole earn $34,063 on average and the annual teacher pension — adjusted for cost of living — is $8,875.
Public school enrollment growth in the state from fall 2013 to fall 2014 dropped 3.8 percent, the 50th worst drop in the nation.
Hawaii ranked No. 39 for the best school systems nationwide, WalletHub said, and No. 34 for its 10-year change in teacher salaries. Salaries increased 16.5 percent from the 2005-06 school year to the 2015-16 school year. Hawaii ranked No. 9 — its highest ranking in the report — in overall teacher effectiveness.
Hawaii’s teacher shortage is longstanding. About 44 percent of new teachers hired in the 2011-12 school year left the profession five years later, information from the state Department of Education shows. That number was about 53 percent among 2002 hires.
“It is no surprise that Hawaii is lowest in the nation,” said Corey Rosenlee, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association. “The DOE employment report shows more teachers are leaving the profession and less teachers are going into the profession. What this is doing is creating a large teacher gap, which cannot be filled by the DOE and creating a teaching crisis in Hawaii.”
Professor Michele Ebersole, chairwoman of the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s School of Education, which offers a Master of Arts in Teaching program, said in an email some studies found Hawaii teachers “may well be above the national average; however, when factoring in the cost of living (WalletHub) provides a very different story.”
“There are multiple factors to consider when recruiting teachers to the profession,” Ebersole said. “Salary compensation is important as it demonstrates a commitment to the value of the education and work demanded of the profession. For educator preparation programs such as ours, we continue to reach out to those individuals who are passionate about working with youth and serving their communities.”
The DOE said in a statement that the results were not surprising. The department said a study in 2014 created jointly with the HSTA found teachers in Hawaii earn about 4 percent less than teachers throughout the rest of the nation. The study showed professional salaries also are lower than the rest of the nation.
Rosenlee disputed the study’s findings and told the Tribune-Herald it didn’t compare Hawaii to school districts with an equally high cost of living.
New Jersey ranked No. 1 on WalletHub’s best teacher list, followed by Massachusetts at No. 2 and Illinois, at No. 3. Hawaii came in just behind West Virginia’s No. 50 ranking on a list that included the District of Columbia.
To see the full list, visit tinyurl.com/HawaiiTeacherList.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.