Hawaii's Pay Raise Policy Reduces Vacancies for Teachers of Students with Disabilities

Despite the success, retaining qualified teachers remains a challenge due to significant workload and lack of administrative support.

• Hawaii has seen a 32% reduction in vacancies for teachers of students with disabilities after implementing a policy that increased their pay by $10,000 per year. The policy also reduced the number of unlicensed teachers by 35%.
• Despite the success of Hawaii's policy, retaining qualified teachers remains a challenge due to the significant workload and lack of administrative support.
• Efforts are being made to encourage education assistants to transition to licensed teaching positions, with some success seen in programs that bring certification coursework to candidates already working as education assistants.
• Across the U.S., the system for providing equal education to the 7.2 million students with disabilities is broken, with a lack of federal funding being a key issue.
• Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are often not being implemented effectively, leading to inadequate support for students with disabilities.

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