Hawaii Schools Short On Teachers -- Again

Hawaii Schools Begin School Year Short On Teachers.. Again

Elton Kinoshita did everything he could think of last year to find enough qualified teachers to fill all the unexpected vacancies at Lanai High and Elementary School.

The second year principal scoured state Department of Education applicant lists, talked to substitute teachers about working full time, and asked community members to network on the school’s behalf. When classes started without even enough substitute teachers to fill in, Kinoshita picked up a math textbook and asked students for patience.

“I told the students the last time I took pre-calculus was September 1975,” Kinoshita recalled. “One of them said, ‘My mom wasn’t even born then.’”

The students laughed, Kinoshita said, but the problem was serious.

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