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Returning to work after summer vacation consistently follows the same trend for teachers. We start off the year with a week of teacher training before students arrive. We all convene in the library, and the room is filled with a mixture of veteran teachers, teachers who are new to the school and first-year teachers.

However, when I returned to work this year, many of the new faces I was meeting were not simply first-year teachers, they were emergency teachers. As the title implies, emergency teachers are hired to fill urgent vacancies. They are categorized as emergency teachers because they have not completed an appropriate teacher certification program. After leaving work on the first day, I had a hunch that there was a larger issue contributing to the high proportion of emergency hires at my school.

Hawaii is currently suffering through a teacher shortage. Hundreds of emergency teachers are walking into classrooms for the first time without training or support — a daunting task to say the least. Hawaii is certainly not the only state facing this challenge. There is consistent talk of a national teacher shortage plaguing a number of states around the country.

Many believe that the resurgence of the American economy is the source of the problem. With more job openings in higher paying industries, college graduates are no longer entering the teaching profession. The recent standards and high stakes testing movement has compounded the problem by making the profession less forgiving, pushing potential teachers away and driving current teachers out.

However, contrary to the national discussion, teacher shortages are a state issue. The industry is structured such that teachers must receive a credential from the state they are teaching in to be considered highly qualified. Thus, individual states are responsible for recruiting and training a sufficient supply of teachers to service all of their students adequately. This is especially true for Hawaii because of how isolated it is from other states.

Hawaii has often attempted to deal with shortages by recruiting from the mainland. This is an unsustainable approach that is designed to alleviate rather than solve the problem. While teaching on the Leeward Coast of Oahu, I have seen countless teachers who get recruited from the mainland. They usually teach for a few years and then leave because they have commitments and obligations in their home state. To truly combat perpetual teacher shortages, Hawaii must reconsider how they are building future teachers from within their local communities.

Hawaii has often attempted to deal with shortages by recruiting from the mainland. This is an unsustainable approach that is designed to alleviate rather than solve the problem.

As a high school teacher, I often support my students as they transition to college and into the work force. Recruiters regularly speak to our 11^th and 12^th graders about short-term programs and apprenticeships that provide them with a pipeline to various career paths. However, I seldom see opportunities for students to learn more about the teaching profession, limiting the state’s ability to recruit and develop future teachers locally.

A great example of how this can be done is Waianae High School’s Teaching Academy. The program is designed to take high school students who are interested in becoming teachers and provide them the resources and skills to better prepare them for the profession. Similarly, INPEACE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of Native Hawaiians, has developed the Kulia and Ka Lama Education Academy, to help prepare and support community members who are interested in a career in education.

To eliminate our teacher shortage, Hawaii needs to develop and implement teaching academies in all its local high schools and communities, academies that recruit and support students and adults who are considering a profession in teaching. This will help build a well-trained supply of local teachers, committed to improving their communities for years to come.