HSTA identifies key solutions to Hawaiʻi teacher retention

The Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association proposed four key solutions earlier this month that could help with teacher recruitment and retention, ensuring the teaching profession remains robust here for years to come, so children in Hawaiʻi receive a quality education.

It’s no secret that retaining Hawaiʻi teachers has been an ongoing challenge for years, exacerbated by the state’s high cost of living.

Riki Fujitani, executive director of the Hawaiʻi School Facilities Authority (SFA), stated during a recent SFA board meeting that approximately half of the new teachers in Hawaiʻi remain in the profession after five years. In fact, the turnover can sometimes outpace retirements.

Recently, the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education conducted a survey of its salaried HIDOE employees statewide and found that 41% of employees are considered “retention risks,” meaning they are likely to leave HIDOE employment because of high housing costs across Hawaiʻi.

Many teachers struggle with Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living. A single-earning teacher cannot afford a market-rate home in Hawaiʻi, which averages $1,087,500. Further, according to rentdata.org, Hawaiʻi has the second-highest rent in the country out of 56 states and territories.

HSTA Vice President Logan Okita said, “They (teachers) can’t afford to stay here. There are so many educators who at the beginning of their career are living with five or more other people in a house just so that they can pay rent on what they make.”

During an SFA board meeting earlier this month, the HSTA presented its findings, highlighting some stark realities regarding teacher compensation and the cost of living in the islands, and provided some common-sense solutions.

Build more teacher housing

Sixty percent of respondents to the HIDOE’s survey earlier this year said employee workforce housing would likely increase retention.

On average, the HIDOE hires approximately 1,200 to 1,500 new teachers each year. Not all new teachers will require housing, but having the option could certainly help retain them for the long term.

The HIDOE broke ground on educator housing in Lahaina, Maui, in late May. The $20 million rental housing development comprising 47 rental units will help address a critical need for educator housing in West Maui following the devastating 2023 wildfires.

State Superintendent of Schools Keith Hayashi said, “This development is pivotal to the retention and recruitment of our West Maui staff. We cannot afford to lose our educators. Their presence, their stability, their relationships with students is what helps our students learn, heal, and move forward.”

Other teacher housing initiatives are still in the works, including a teacher housing complex in Mililani on Oʻahu. However, logistics are still being finalized, and the project is several years away from being finished.

As of 2023, the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education had 51 affordable rental units available for teachers at rural schools, typically for a limited period of three to five years. The HSTA proposes new teacher housing units with rents capped at $1,200 to $1,400 a month to ensure new teachers can afford to live in the communities they serve and will continue to work in Hawaiʻi.

Provide housing assistance to teachers

Providing housing assistance to teachers in the form of vouchers could go a long way toward helping recruit and retain talented and highly-qualified educators in our classrooms.

About 10% of the state’s teachers switch schools, relocate, or leave the profession each year, and teacher recruitment and retention are especially difficult at hard-to-staff schools, according to the state Legislature.

At the Legislature this year, two bills, House Bill 89 and House Bill 323 would have worked to address housing assistance to educators.

The bills would have established the Teacher Home Assistance Program to provide housing vouchers to certain eligible teachers, especially in hard-to-staff locations. Vouchers of up to $500 a month would help teachers with a certain income level (to be determined) offset pricey rents and mortgages, allowing them to afford to live and teach here.

Unfortunately, because of federal budget cuts and financial concerns at the federal and state levels, both efforts to provide housing assistance to educators stalled in the Legislature this year. The HSTA plans on pursuing a similar solution through the Legislature during next year’s session.

Raise teacher wages; Nearly 90% of HSTA members prioritize increased pay

HSTA continuously advocates for higher wages for teachers. While we’re in the midst of our current contract, which expires in 2027, the union is looking forward to its next contract and preparing for negotiations.

In April, HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. revealed that the state approached HSTA and offered educators a two-year extension on its existing contract with annual 4% increases without the possibility of negotiating any other terms or working conditions. After careful consideration, HSTA leadership rejected the offer.

Under the proposal floated by the state, the employer was not willing to negotiate other working conditions, compensation, or any other issues other than the annual raises as part of the proposed deal.

In a survey conducted by HSTA of its members in February, 28% of members said that they are considering leaving the school system within 1–5 years and 27% are unsure. The top factor that would encourage them to stay is increased pay, 87% of respondents said.

As the union looks ahead to contract negotiations, Tui warned that if the union didn’t make headway on key issues, striking could be an option when the current contract expires in two years.

“Unlike other bargaining units that don’t have the option to strike, we do. While we can’t strike now, perhaps that’s what it’s going to take after our current contract expires. We need to get out of that bucket of crabs with others trying to pull us back into the bucket as we just try to get on par with our counterparts across the country with similar costs of living,” Tui said.

Provide 100% employer-covered medical coverage (EUTF)

During his presentation to the SFA board, HSTA’s Government Relations Specialist Jason Bradshaw provided the following example of a teacher’s health insurance costs through the Hawaiʻi Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF) and their estimated take-home pay (after taxes).

Step 5, Class II Teacher = $53,390 (gross salary)
Monthly take-home pay (after taxes): $3,508
After health insurance (80/20 EUTF PPO):

• Single: $3,151.74
• Two-Party: $2,642.70
• Family: $2,404.87

In this example, an entry-level educator supporting themselves and possibly a family on a teacher’s salary will pay upwards of $1,103 per month for employer-sponsored health insurance coverage.

Currently, the employer covers 60% of the 2025–2026 and 2026–2027 monthly premiums for the HMSA 80/20 PPO Plan, with a 90% cap on premium contributions.

Healthcare premiums are a significant portion of educators’ paychecks, and medical premiums continue to rise. Should the employer cover 100% of the premiums, teachers would see hundreds of dollars back in their pockets to contribute toward housing costs.

While changes like this would likely have to be negotiated through collective bargaining, it’s possible that the HSTA could push for a legislative bill that would require the state to provide 100% medical coverage for educators.

The issue of solving the teacher shortage crisis in Hawaiʻi is complex and multi-faceted. In a survey earlier this year, more than 60% of HSTA members indicated that they are concerned about the educator shortage here at home, and the cause often points to one thing: the high cost of living in Hawaiʻi.

By working with HIDOE, the SFA, and the state Legislature, HSTA will continue to push for creative solutions to recruiting and retaining highly qualified educators for every classroom in Hawaiʻi, ensuring that keiki receive the education they deserve.