About 500 educators will be receiving up to $8,000 in bonuses this month, but some school leaders aren’t convinced it will be enough to solve Hawaii’s shortage of career technical education teachers.

Career technical education teachers lead courses ranging from broadcast media to engineering in middle and high schools across the state. The classes, which emphasize hands-on learning and projects, provide students with skills and training they can use in their careers.

While CTE isn’t new to Hawaii, it’s gained traction in recent years, especially under the leadership of Department of Education Superintendent Keith Hayashi. But as schools expand their CTE offerings, the teacher workforce may be unable to keep up due to low pay and barriers to licensing.

The DOE said it doesn’t collect data on the CTE teacher shortage, but approximately 25 positions remain unfilled for the 2024-25 school year. Last month, the Hawaii State Teachers Association said it received estimates from DOE that half of CTE classes in Hawaii schools are taught by teachers who don’t have a corresponding license in the subject area.

Hawaii licenses educators to teach CTE classes in six areas: arts and communication, business, health services, industrial and engineering technology, public and human services and natural resources.

Mitigating the Career Technical Education Teacher Shortage

The DOE is now providing one-time bonuses to CTE teachers that range from $2,500 to $8,000 based on individual qualifications. Lawmakers also passed a bill this year that would ease teacher licensing requirements and allow those with a high school diploma and relevant work and education experience to qualify for a CTE teacher license.

Kimberly Saula, vice principal at Farrington High School, said she’s hopeful these initiatives will grow Hawaii’s CTE teacher workforce. But, she added, many CTE teachers have years of experience in fields like healthcare or auto mechanics, and it’s challenging to convince these professionals to make the move to the classroom.

Read the full article about career technical education by Megan Tagami at Civil Beat.