Teacher Compensation Policy
Shortage-subject Areas: Hawaii now supports differential pay by which a teacher can earn additional compensation by teaching certain subjects. The state recently approved an initiative to provide additional compensation for teachers teaching the high-need areas of special education and Hawaiian language immersion programs.
High-need Schools: Hawaii offers a $3,000 bonus for licensed teachers employed in geographical areas that are considered hard-to-staff locations. The new initiative recently approved by the state also includes additional compensation for teachers teaching in hard-to-staff geographical locations.
Further, Hawaii provides a $1,500 bonus to teachers upon certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, followed by a $5,000 bonus per year for maintaining current National Board Certification. Teachers may earn an additional $5,000 bonus for also teaching at hard-to-staff schools.
As a result of Hawaii's strong high-need schools and subjects policies, no recommendations are provided.
Hawaii was helpful in providing NCTQ with the facts necessary for this analysis.
8B: High-Need Schools and Subjects
States should help address chronic shortages and needs. States should ensure that state-level policies (such as a uniform salary schedule) do not interfere with districts' flexibility in compensating teachers in ways that best meet their individual needs and resources. However, when it comes to addressing chronic shortages, states should do more than simply get out of the way. They should provide direct support for differential pay for effective teaching in shortage subject areas and high-need schools.[1] Attracting effective and qualified teachers to high-need schools or filling vacancies in hard-to-staff subjects are problems that are frequently beyond a district's ability to solve. States that provide direct support for differential pay in these areas are taking an important step in promoting the equitable distribution of quality teachers.[2] Short of providing direct support, states can also use policy levers to indicate to districts that differential pay is not only permissible but necessary.