This is the latest in a series of "Voices of Education" articles prepared by various education professionals in Hawai'i who hope to drive the conversation on education reform. Contributors to this series include preschool-through-college educators who seek to identify areas of consensus within the profession and then to inform policy makers on their ideas. For more information online, go to: www.hawaii.edu/voice.

As the school year started in recent weeks, more than 400 classrooms across the state did not have a permanent, highly qualified teacher. We faced this problem last year, and the year before. Even with our newly negotiated contract for teachers, which raises the starting pay for highly qualified teachers to nearly $40,000 a year, we are still facing problems filling our teaching positions.

This shortage of teachers is happening for two reasons: we aren't doing a good enough job retaining highly qualified teachers we do have; and we aren't doing a good enough job recruiting new teachers. To be fair, Hawai'i isn't the only place in the country to have a teacher shortage. Across the United States, thousands of school districts face similar problems.

What is causing this drastic and chronic shortage of teachers? In Hawai'i, it's a complex problem. First, our cost of living is second-highest in the country (only New York City is higher), so our pay scale isn't as competitive as it looks on its surface. Second, we aren't training and producing enough teachers locally to meet the demand — and many of our residents who do choose to become teachers opt to teach elsewhere. In fact, only 53 percent of the University of Hawai'i College of Education's 2001 graduates (the most recent year with available statistics) are teaching in Hawai'i public schools. Third, working conditions and culture in our public schools don't offer teachers a safe, stable and supportive teaching environment, leading many of them — about 1,600 each year — to seek work in private schools, on the Mainland or in another profession.

The good news is that we know how to fix the problem. But we need to act quickly. If we don't, our public schools won't be able to continue providing a solid education to our children.

Teachers are the most important key to quality education. Research shows that, of all factors, having a highly qualified teacher is the biggest contributor to student achievement, and that investments in hiring highly qualified teachers deliver a better return on standardized tests than any other use of education dollars.

We've made an important stride in compensation with our most recent contract, which gets starting teacher pay to almost $40,000. But we need to continue to improve salaries. Our goal is to get average salaries to $60,000 and top-scale pay to $100,000. To do that, we need to recognize, with a pay increase, that each year of experience teachers have in the classroom is valuable and makes them better teachers. This yearly pay increment would encourage teachers to stay, and it would make our total package more competitive with private and Mainland schools.

Next, we need to commit to making working environments in our public schools better. Collapsing roofs and asbestos contamination are just a couple of the most recent incidents that closed schools for days. Properly maintained facilities mean kids can focus on learning, and not on uncomfortably hot classrooms, or leaking ceilings. That in turn makes it easier for teachers to help children understand material and give them individual attention. And when that happens, we all benefit from better public education.

We also need to support our public school teachers as they take on one of the most demanding and critical jobs in our society. Teachers now face immense pressure to make sure their students pass standardized tests and achieve ever-improving marks on other federally mandated criteria. These demands make no allowances for students' socio-economic differences, language barriers or learning disabilities. It is up to teachers to find ways to assure that all their students are making the grade. We need to give teachers the resources to do this, whether it is administrative support staff, input on school management or funds for additional supplies.

Hawai'i's public school teachers are doing a tremendous job despite their low salaries and extensive responsibilities. They have unselfishly gone the extra mile to cover classes and take on other duties since there's been a shortage of highly qualified teachers. But they are spread very thin and the added burdens are taking a toll. Hawai'i's teachers are badly in need of relief and reinforcement in their ranks. We know what needs to be done. Let's take those steps and make a Hawai'i's public school system one we can all be proud of.

Roger Takabayashi is president of the Hawai'i State Teachers Association.