Housing committee advances proposals for teacher housing projects, Maui pilot program

“Truly, we need teacher housing.”

Laverne Moore, special education teacher and Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association teacher lobbyist, told the state House Committee on Housing Friday, “We have such a (teacher) shortage that we even have principals and vice principals and custodians subbing in the classroom.”

The committee unanimously approved two measures aimed at providing teacher workforce housing for educators.

• House Bill 1256: Establishes and appropriates money for a Maui campus housing pilot program, to be administered by the School Facilities Authority (SFA), to make on-campus housing available to employees at Lahainaluna and Kūlanihākoʻi high schools on the island of Maui.
• House Bill 1117: Authorizes the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance & Development Corporation (HHFDC) to assist the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education in developing teacher housing projects and contract or sponsor a development housing project with any state department or agency.

In his written testimony in support of HB 1256, HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. said, “To recruit and retain effective educators, policymakers must find ways to lessen the financial burden of being a public school teacher. Establishing an on-campus housing program on Maui is a good first step.

“A campus housing pilot program on Maui may assist teachers in attaining sustainable and stable residency, while staving off crushing debt burdens. Implementing and tracking the progress of the pilot program could point the way to more permanent affordable housing solutions for teachers in the future,” he added.

According to the bill’s rationale, the campuses of Lahainaluna High in West Maui and Kūlanihākoʻi High in Kīhei are well-suited for teacher housing, as they already have appropriate infrastructures in place.

During the hearing, Deputy Attorney General Anne Horiuchi recommended the program be handed to another entity when construction is complete.

She explained, “The SFA doesn’t have expressed power and authority under current law to administer teacher housing programs so what we’ve suggested is that once the development planning and construction of the on-campus housing is complete, continued administration should be taken up by a different entity” to charge or collect rent, manage properties, etc.

Lawmakers noted the program could receive an initial $200,000 and may require additional funding.

Meanwhile, House Bill 1117 received strong support from lawmakers and various community entities, including HSTA, the SFA, the HIDOE and the organization Housing Hawaiʻi’s Future.

Sterling Higa, Housing Hawaiʻi’s Future executive director, spoke in staunch support of teacher housing.

“We should be building workforce housing for teachers. We should also be building workforce housing for first responders and basically for all members of the middle class, but teacher housing is a good start.

“If you eliminate transportation costs, you give someone a 15-percent raise. So in the absence of massively increasing teacher salaries, providing on-site teacher housing is the single best way we can help to attract more teachers to the profession,” Higa said.

Denise Iseri-Matsubara, Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation executive director, stood in support of the measure after hearing “such fierce support from people like Laverne,” but raised concerns regarding compliance with fair housing laws.

“Of course we want to support housing for our teachers. They are badly needed,” she said. “We just have to make sure that in light of fair housing, it clearly shows why there’s a housing preference for teachers, and that it’s necessary to serve an important legislative purpose. So that would help us with fair housing.”

The measure passed unanimously with amendments, and lawmakers acknowledged the fair housing concern. “We’ll make sure we insert that into the bill,” assured Housing Committee Chair Rep. Troy Hashimoto (D, Waiehu, Paukūkalo, Wailuku).

The bills will next be heard by the House Education Committee.