Extended Emergency Licenses: Hawaii

Analysis of Hawaii's policies

Hawaii allows new teachers who have not met licensure requirements to be issued an "emergency hire" credential for a period not to exceed one year, but this credential is renewable for up to a maximum of four years. To qualify, the individual must have a bachelor's degree, submit an official transcript and actively pursue appropriate licensing. To renew, the teacher must submit evidence of satisfactory progress toward meeting the licensing standards.

Citation

Hawaii Administrative Rules http://www.education-colleges.com/hawaii-teacher-certification.html#emergency

Recommendations for Hawaii

Ensure that all teachers pass required subject-matter licensing tests before they enter the classroom.

All students are entitled to teachers who know the subject matter they are teaching. Permitting individuals who have not yet passed state licensing tests to teach neglects the needs of students, instead extending personal consideration to adults who may not be able to meet minimal state standards. Hawaii should ensure that all teachers have passed their licensing tests—an important minimum benchmark for entering the profession—prior to entering the classroom.

Limit exceptions to one year.

There might be limited and exceptional circumstances under which conditional or emergency licenses need to be granted. In these instances, it is reasonable for a state to give teachers up to one year to pass required licensure tests. However, Hawaii's current policy puts students at risk by allowing teachers to teach on emergency certificates for up to four years without passing required subject-matter tests.

State response to our analysis

Hawaii noted that Emergency Hires are allowed to teach up to three years, not four. Progress toward licensure is tracked by the Department under statute. If the DOE requires meeting content verification in the first year, the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board has no objection.

Last word

While the Hawaii State Teachers Association recognizes that Emergency Hires are allowed to teach up to three years, the state's most recent Highly Qualified Teacher State Plan, published in 2007, articulates that Emergency Hires are allowed to work up to four years. In any case, three years is still too long to allow teachers to teach without passing subject-matter licenses.