Scholarships to aid teachers, assistants
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
To combat Hawai'i's teacher shortage and help the state meet new federal education requirements, Kamehameha Schools yesterday announced two new scholarship programs for educators.
Applications for both scholarship programs are available at www.ksbe.edu or by calling 842-8216, or toll-free at (800) 842-IMUA, ext. 8216. The deadline is July 15.
The Pauahi Educators Scholarship will give financial assistance to at least 25 students in the last two years of a bachelor of education or post-baccalaureate teaching certificate program.
To apply
In return for the financial support, scholarship recipients will be required to teach in a public school with an enrollment that is at least 33 percent Hawaiian and that also has been labeled as "corrective action."
"We want to encourage more people of Hawaiian ancestry to pursue teaching careers and we need them in schools where Hawaiians make up a significant portion of the student body," said Teresa Makuakane-Drechsel, executive director of admissions and financial aid for Kamehameha Schools.
Last year, 82 Hawai'i high-poverty schools were deemed as "corrective action" under terms of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, meaning they had failed to meet standardized test or attendance goals for at least two years; 45 of those schools had high populations of Native Hawaiian students.
Parents of students at those campuses could ask to transfer to better-performing schools; and at campuses that have failed for three or more years, parents could request private tutoring at the state's expense.
Makuakane-Drechsel said the goal of the scholarship is to help solve a statewide teachers shortage as well as the high rate of teacher turnover at many of the schools that serve large Native Hawaiian populations.
The No Child Left Behind law requires a highly qualified teacher in every classroom by 2006.
The Kumu Kokua Scholarships will go to tuition, books and supplies for at least 50 educational assistants, known as EAs, pursuing professional certification through a University of Hawai'i community college.
Applicants already should be working at a corrective action school with a high population of Native Hawaiians.
The No Child Left Behind law requires that all EAs have an associate's degree or pass a statewide certification test by 2006.
Kathy Jaycox, executive director of the Ka Pilina Program at Honolulu Community College, said all of the community colleges offer coursework for educational assistants. The hope is that the assistants eventually will move on to a bachelor's degree to become teachers.
"We hope to grow more of our teachers here in the state," Jaycox said.
Kamehameha Schools has set aside $250,000 for each scholarship program.
Although the Kumu Kokua Scholarship likely will be available only this year to help meet the 2006 deadline for educational assistants, Makuakane-Drechsel said the Pauahi Educators Scholarship will be ongoing.
The scholarships are based on need. Preference will go to Native Hawaiian applicants, but others may apply.
In addition to the 45 regular public schools with the aforementioned requirements, recipients also could teach at 13 public charter schools with a Hawaiian focus or 19 Hawaiian language-immersion programs.
