The Scramble To Recruit New Teachers And Keep Them In Hawaii

[TexasTowelie]

Kaitlyn Cleveland was halfway through her first year teaching fourth grade at Solomon Elementary School in Wahiawa earlier this year when she entertained the idea of leaving Hawaii to go back to the mainland once the school year ended.

For the Washington state native, living in the country’s most expensive state on a teacher’s salary isn’t easy: rent is more than half of her monthly take-home pay, fresh produce is no longer on her grocery budget and trips back home are too costly.

“It is a challenge, there’s no way around that,” said Cleveland, 27.

Cleveland, who has a master’s in education from the University of Hawaii Manoa, nearly became part of an all-too familiar group here: the hundreds of non-local teachers who leave after a year or two due to the high cost of living and the vast distance from family and other support networks back on the mainland.

Read more: www.civilbeat.org/2017/07/the-scramble-to-recruit-new-teachers-and-keep-them-in-hawaii/

[msongs]

1. lousy pay, high cost of living, not respected by the community. that about does it nt

[murielm99]

2. I have a family member with a similar story.

She auditioned for a symphony there. She discovered that she could not live on what they intended to pay, so she turned down the opportunity.

They are going to have to figure out something if they want to keep professionals there.