Need a job? Hawaii is looking to fill its teacher shortage

HONOLULU, HI (FOX 11) - If you have teaching experience and would love to live by the beach, you may want to consider relocating to Hawaii.

The Hawaii Department of Education is scrambling to fill a growing teacher shortage, according to Hawaii News Now. Officials anticipate as many as 1,600 vacancies in schools this fall.

As a result, the Hawaii Department of Education has been sending recruiting teams to meet with hundreds of potential applicants in the Mainland -- including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.

While living in beautiful surroundings with balmy weather may sound nice, Hawaii also needs teachers who are willing to work in hard-to-fill positions in rural island areas.

They also have to deal with the state's high cost of living.

"Hawaii has one of the highest teacher turnover rates in the nation and this is more so for people that come from the Mainland," Corey Rosenlee, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, told Hawaii News Now. "They say, 'I can't live here' and they leave and we have to go back and recruit, and this cycle just continually happens."

But for the teachers who dream of island life, officials say financial incentives are available.

The Department of Education is looking to fill positions in special education, secondary mathematics and secondary science.

The department is also working on retaining current teachers in Hawaii -- and making younger generations aware of education careers in their own communities.

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