A bill moving forward in the Legislature would direct the state Department of Education to cover a portion of tuition and fees for local students completing an education degree at a four-year, University of Hawaii campus as long as they go on to teach at a public school in the islands.
The latest version of House Bill 1345 crossed over into the Senate at the midpoint of the legislative session and passed a critical Senate Ways and Means Committee hearing.
The bill was amended to specify a five-year, full-time commitment for local students who graduate and then teach at a DOE school.
The Senate sent the amended version back to the House. As of Monday it had not yet been scheduled for action in the House.
HB 1345 would apply to students enrolled in one of the four-year education degree programs within the UH system while they complete their student-teacher hours.
The bill would not cover tuition for all four years — only for the semester or term that a student works toward their teaching requirements.
HB 1345 does not specify a dollar amount or estimate of how much it would cost the state.
It was introduced by state Rep. Justin Woodson (D, Kahului-Puunene), who chairs the House Education Committee and plans to work with UH to come up with an estimated cost.
But Woodson said it’s too early in the legislative session to pinpoint exact estimates for all of the costs of bills that remain alive.
Political analyst Neal Milner agreed and said legislators typically leave out appropriations until the number of bills narrows toward the end of each session.
“They’re really not making a commitment right now,” Milner said. “You pass a law, you have zero amount of funds put into it and it just sits there. … The amount of money might be filled in in the negotiations that go on between the Senate and the House between now and the final days of the Legislature.”
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs agreed with the intent of HB 1345, saying in written testimony that it “reduces financial barriers to obtaining an education degree, helps to address teacher shortages, and strengthens the overall educational system.”
HB 1345 also would increase diversity among public school teachers and specifically give more opportunities for Native Hawaiians, OHA said.
“By providing financial relief during student teaching, HB 1345 encourages more Native Hawaiians and Hawaii residents to pursue and complete teaching degrees,” OHA wrote. “This bill addresses the critical barrier of financial hardship, which often prevents Native Hawaiian students from completing education degrees.”
Debora Halbert, vice president for academic strategy at UH, said he understood the value of what HB 1345 would achieve but questioned the UH system’s readiness for the financial investment.
“While we can support the intent of this bill as it would align with these efforts and enhance the state’s ability to meet its educational workforce needs, there would need to be much more discussion regarding the financial impact,” Halbert wrote in her testimony.
Halbert emphasized that she does not oppose the bill as long as the financial impact on the UH system gets addressed.
“If these larger budgetary issues can be resolved, then providing tuition assistance to include UH Hilo and UH West O‘ahu could be recommended as well,” she wrote.
The Hawaii State Teachers Association, in its testimony, called HB 1345 a potential solution to what it called a “severe teacher shortage.”
“By alleviating the financial burden of tuition, HB 1345 would incentivize more individuals to pursue a career in education, thus increasing the pool of qualified teacher candidates,” HSTA wrote. “This, in turn, would help ensure that Hawaii’s keiki have access to a quality education.”
