The challenge in Hawai'i, as in the rest of the nation, is persuading those in more lucrative technical fields to take the financial hit the teacher training often entails.

UH's Transition To Teaching is among a variety of alternative certification programs that have arisen in recent years intended to get college graduates to switch careers and enter teaching.

However, success has proved elusive, and little dent has been made in filling vacancies in the classroom.

Most beginning teachers are still recent college graduates between 21 and 30, according to national data, and up to 50 percent of these new teachers will leave the profession within five years.

Recruitment tough

The aim of the UH program is to increase the number of qualified and licensed secondary math and science teachers, subjects in which the state faces annual shortages, particularly in rural areas. Other programs try to attract special-education teachers, licensed retired military personnel or bring more minorities into the profession.

Math and science professionals are particularly hard to recruit, because many leave for opportunities in other states or turn to jobs in Hawai'i that pay thousands a year more than the DOE can afford. In addition, many math and science majors simply are not interested in teaching, much less returning to school to get licensed.

This year, with the state facing a shortage of 357 teachers, demand for math and science teachers has increased even more, said Jocelyn Surla Banaria, a program manager for the college.

"For the 2004-05 school year, the DOE anticipates a need of approximately 100 secondary math and science teachers statewide," she said.

If accepted into the program, applicants receive a $1,500 stipend each semester for up to three semesters, as well as reimbursement on test fees after passing the teacher certification tests. While participants still pay tuition, financial aid is available. The three-semester program requires a commitment by participants to teach in the DOE for three years.

Program participant Donna Kadooka, who received a physics degree in 1990, turned to substitute teaching after nine years as a meteorologist for the Department of Agriculture.

This summer she joined Transition to Teaching to train as a math teacher, because math was what she enjoyed most about physics.

For Kadooka, changing careers was not a hard decision. "I kind of knew I wanted to go into teaching. My father is a teacher," she said. The newly single mom also noted that teaching will give her more time to spend with her children.

Going back to school has started to put a drain on her savings, though, and it will be worse in the spring when she is a student teacher and can no longer substitute teach. But for right now, the stipend helps with expenses, she said.

The transition has been a good one. "It's been really positive for me," she said.

The challenge in finding people like Kadooka who are willing to change careers is one faced by states across the nation.

Mildred Hudson, CEO of the Massachusetts-based nonprofit Recruiting New Teachers, said "Hawai'i is right there with the rest of the states and communities," as far as teacher shortages. "In general it is very difficult to attract math and science majors."

Math, science, special-education and bilingual teachers are the most needed nationally.

Less about the money

Because those holding math or science degrees can generally earn more as engineers or healthcare professionals, the key is finding those who want to go into teaching for nonfinancial reasons, often because they want to do something worthy. "They're looking for something other than money," Hudson said.

Her organization has found that many people willing to retrain as teachers are former Peace Corps volunteers, substitute teachers, ex-military personnel and paraprofessionals who work in schools.

Recruiting New Teachers has floated the idea of paying math and science teachers more than teachers in other disciplines, but the idea has been met with resistance by principals.

Because many midcareer professionals might not relish the thought of returning to the classroom, Hudson said colleges should make it easy for them to meet the certification programs, with online and night classes.

Fast-track programs like Transition to Teaching can be attractive to adult learners, she said.

Banaria suspects that one of the major challenges will be getting people to give up a salary to go back to school.

Another obstacle could be "math and science people usually are not attracted to teaching," she said. Business people are more likely to want to make the change because they have more interaction with other people, Banaria said.

Bruce Shimamoto, of the Department of Education's teacher recruitment division, has talked to many second-career teachers who thought it was worth taking a pay cut for the opportunity to help young people learn.

But he notes that teacher pay is at an all-time high in Hawai'i, where a new teacher with a master's degree starts at $39,000, including spring, winter and summer vacations.

Of course, going into teaching doesn't necessarily mean a pay cut for everyone, Shimamoto said. Someone looking for a career change might think, "Teachers make more money than me!"