Hawaii Teacher Compensation Study and Recommendations
Prepared for the Hawaii Department of Education in 2020
Augenblick, Palaich and Associates (APA) was contracted by the Hawaii Department of Education (HIDOE) to conduct a study of teacher compensation in the state. The study was intended to examine teacher salaries in Hawaii as well as the overall structure of the compensation system by reviewing national policy recommendations, engaging stakeholders, examining Hawaii’s teacher workforce data, and comparing Hawaii teacher salaries to a series of comparison districts.
APA conducted several key study tasks:
Completed a detailed literature review of teacher compensation recommendations from policy and research centers, professional associations, and the U.S. Department of Education. APA reviewed all available sources to identify recommended pay structures that are considered effective in achieving desired outcomes. This included examining the recommendations of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, Federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) Grantees’ Plans, Linda Darling Hammond/Learning Policy Institute, National Center for Education and the Economy (NCEE), National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), National Education Association and the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP). This detailed literature review is presented in Chapter II.
Engaged stakeholders to understand how educators and the community view teacher recruitment, retention, and compensation issues in Hawaii. The study team conducted eight in-person listening sessions in four locations in Hawaii (two locations on Oahu, one on Hawaii Island, and one on Maui), as well as administered a statewide online survey to engage educators, parents, students, and community members. Details on feedback questions, participation, and results can be found in Chapter III.
Examined hiring and retention trends in the state. APA created a teacher-level database to understand the flow of teachers into and out of Hawaii for the past five years. This analysis included information on the experience and education levels of teachers, and the relationship between these factors and teacher placement on the salary schedule. The teacher flow analysis is included in Chapter IV.
Examined Hawaii’s compensation competitiveness against comparable districts across the country. The selection of comparison districts was distinct for this study compared to the 2014 study. Instead of selecting one comparison group primarily due to district size, APA selected three comparison groups for this study: 1) comparison districts based upon district and workforce size (this comparison group was identified in the RFP and included districts with at least 165,000 students and 10,000 to 14,000 teachers); 2) districts with similarly high cost of living to Hawaii; and 3) districts that had other similarities to Hawaii such as having high levels of attraction (as measured by their CWI) compared to their cost of living, suggesting relative attractiveness of locations (as was the case for Hawaii in the prior study). Once the comparison districts were identified, APA reviewed each district’s compensation plan, then compared thirteen data points on Hawaii’s salary schedule to the comparison districts’ schedules, based on the current distribution of teachers in Hawaii, focusing on the education and experience areas with large numbers of Hawaiian teachers. All comparisons included both unadjusted and cost-of-living-adjusted comparison figures. Salary comparisons are presented in Chapter V.
Using the information gained through each of these study components, APA believes that there are some clear findings from the study:
Teachers face a very high cost of living in Hawaii, which makes continuing in the teaching profession in the state less sustainable.
Once adjusted for cost of living, teacher salaries in Hawaii are not competitive with comparison group averages.
Hawaii’s compensation system has a limited number of steps and there has been compression within these steps.
Regardless of steps taken by the State, Hawaii is likely to continue to have relatively higher levels of turnover.
Considering these four key findings, APA is recommending a three-step approach to adjusting Hawaii’s salary system:
Hawaii should expand the number of steps available to teachers and re-grid personnel on these new steps.
Analyze the impact of the re-gridding and identify the areas where Hawaii still is not competitive to comparison districts.
The state should develop a career ladder focused on developing teacher leaders to support new-to-Hawaii teachers.