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there's nothing wrong with mudding, 4 wheeling, hunting, fishing, diving, etc etc. since big island is considered country, you'll find it's pretty common for residents to participate in these sorts of activities compared to oahu residents. These hobbies and activities are all wholesome.
its more of the other activities I mentioned that are most concerning. also note that like rednecks, hawaiian rednecks tend to be far more racist than the average resident as well.
Stuff like this below, normal. And note that it's at these types of schools that your wife would likely be transferring into. Lower income middle and high school are the most violent in the state.
there's nothing wrong with mudding, 4 wheeling, hunting, fishing, etc etc. since big island is considered country, you'll find it's pretty common for residents to participate in these sorts of activities compared to oahu residents. These hobbies and activities are all wholesome.
its more of the other activities I mentioned that are most concerning. also note that like rednecks, hawaiian rednecks tend to be far more racist than the average resident as well.
Stuff like this below, normal. And note that it's at these types of schools that your wife would likely be transferring into. Lower income middle and high school are the most violent in the state.
I didn't notice if they went mudding unless they clean their trucks off afterward. In Virginia it's like a rite of passage to keep all the mud on your truck to let everyone know you been mudding. I agree, nothing wrong with mudding. We have a jacked up Jeep as well and like taking off road.
I have read that Puna has a serious drug problem and when talking with locals, they cringed when we mentioned Puna.
I would imagine most of the schools in Puna are title 1. That's not good.
I did notice that on the BI, that y'all have your version of rednecks, Hawaiian rednecks. Lot of jacked up pick-up trucks and Jeeps with oversized tires. We have the same thing in Virginia, but Hawaii is missing the Confederate flag flying on their trucks, but I did see the state flag flying proudly. Mudding is a pastime here in Virginia, not sure what the pastime is in Hawaii for your version of rednecks.
Lifted trucks may not exactly always belong to a Hawaii version of a redneck. Around here they're also owned by pig hunters and fisher folks as well as cattle folks. Anyone who goes off road for whatever reason will have a 4WD and those are sometimes lifted because the roads can be pretty rough. Usta be all the folks in the back of Hawaiian Acres (a large Puna subdivision) had to have lifted vehicles or they'd not be able to get home. The roads have improved somewhat, but there's still a lot of reasons to have a lifted car or truck. Some of it is just too much testosterone, though. Especially the shiny rims on the really big tires.
If it has a lot of stickers and stuff on it, then it may be sort of a statement vehicle, but those are more of a belonging to a group thing and not necessarily a redneck thing. Frequently it will be small Hondas that can't get over speed bumps and run in packs that have the stickers, but not always.
I am a long time teacher (on the mainland) and have owned a place in Mountain View for about 5 years now. One of the potential tenants I was showing our cottage to was a teacher (I think originally from Kauai, but had spent a lot of time on the mainland) who had excellent credentials and experience. He was (iirc) going to be teaching at Pahoa HS and had decided after driving out that the commute to Mountain View was a bit long, but we had an excellent discussion of the schools in Hawai'i and what their needs are. Excellent teachers are needed, but most especially excellent teachers who excel at working with disadvantaged and underperforming students - generally the most challenging groups. By the end of our conversation he told me that I should consider looking for a job there when I retire from the mainland as my skill set would be in demand. I doubt I will do it, although at the time it seemed quite tantalising. In the end I suspect that when I retire (soon) I will be wanting to spend time enjoying the world and what it has to offer rather than starting a new chapter of my work life.
I think the take home message of this story is that having the skill set to allow the most challenging learners to succeed is the ticket to easily gaining employment as a teacher on the Big Island. Best of luck to you, Nyfinestbxtf, in finding a situation for your family that works out, whether it's in Hawai'i or the mainland.
Wow! sounds like all you want to do is sue or blame Hawaii for all your problems. So sorry. Suck it up. Oh, and by the way. what do YOU do for a living. Statue?
I must have missed the "sue or blame Hawaii" anywhere in this thread. To what, specifically, are you referring? Obviously you didn't read the thread or you would know what the OP does for a living.
To the OP, based upon what I have observed as a sub in Maui, I am reasonably sure your wife WILL get offered a teaching job. I get called with offers regularly because I am a credentialed teacher (California). Many teacher here do not have credentials and are working full-time. (I am retired and only want part-time.)
idk, i think you're speaking out of naivety, which is an observation, not an insult.
To understand WHY there's a teacher shortage, you must understand the reasons for it. And there are very good reasons why Hawaii has one of the highest teacher turnover rates in the nation, and are perpetually short on teachers. And understand why they advertise in mainland markets trying to find suckers, I mean qualified instructors. Logically, if teaching jobs in hawaii were so great, or even so average, locals would be snapping these jobs up until there wasn't a shortage! Instead, they're advertising nationally to pull as many (proverbial) warm bodies as they can off the streets!
- Low initial teacher salary, very high cost of living. Many new teachers quit after the first few years because the cost of living numbers simply don't pencil out. The starting salaries are abysmal. Maybe if you take extra work over the summer breaking big rocks into little ones or something you can make ends meet, but many teachers find it's simply not worth it. Especially given the extra time they put in the classroom trying to help the keeds. Then you consider the fact that certain more difficult teaching jobs, such as SPED or teaching in low income areas don't pay more than other teaching assignments, and its easy to see why teachers run, not walk for the exit.
- Lack of support from the HSTA bureaucracy. YMMV, but you're largely on your own in the classroom without much support from the administration. Many teachers buy and provide supplies to the kids because this type of support is absent. Many kids are from poor or broken families, if you're trying to get them to color with crayons, there will be no coloring done unless you provide the crayons. Etc.
- Getting dumped in high turnover, low income areas. Like most union jobs, seniority means a lot, and lack of it means that you don't really have much of a choice of it when it comes to the location and type of assignment you'll be assigned. So fresh out of school or fresh off the plane, you'll get dumped out in the boonies, and your classroom will likely consist of kids that aren't motivated to learn, to say the very least. Talk about setting people up for failure, huh? You'd think that they want veteran teachers for these areas because they're better able to help the kids and deal with the stresses of the job, but nope. The teachers with seniority get to teach in higher income, easier areas.
IMO it takes a special type of person to teach in hawaii and be successful in the long term. A lot of sacrifice for menial pay. You do not become a teacher in hawaii because you are trying to make a living wage or because of the shorter work year. You do it because you helping the kids. The highest paying education jobs in the state isn't in the classrooms as teachers, it's working in the administration. If you can work your way up to become part of the bureaucracy, you wont have to deal with issues in your classroom, and make a lot more money than these newbie teachers, probably double.
I think you're better off teaching in private schools or in the college system. At the very least, the kids will be more motivated towards learning.
It's not beyond me the challenges of teaching in Hawaii. I am aware of many of the examples that you have stated. I'm not sure of what the exact requirements are to just be able to stand in the classroom in Hawaii, but most states without at least a provisional teaching license you can't even enter the classroom as a sub. To qualify for a provisional teaching license as I understand it is you need a degree in education at the very least. Maybe Hawaii is different, but I can't imagine they can just pull some person of the street and throw them in a classroom. Another reason for the shortage of teachers in Hawaii is that Hawaii just isn't producing enough teachers.
The starting salary for a teacher in Hawaii is pretty sad especially when you couple that with the cost of living. The only way to increase the teacher salary is to increase property taxes and not sure how well that will be taken.
Many school districts are like that on the mainland where teachers dig into their own pocket to provide supplies and many school districts lack support from administration. Some are good, some are bad.
I think it takes a special kind of person to be a teacher period. No one becomes a teacher in the hopes of becoming rich. At the end of the day, it's about the kids.
I can see Hawaii DOE having its challenges and probably more so than on the mainland. I have been researching as much as I can and I have yet to read anything positive about the HDOE. These are all things my wife and I have to take into consideration.
Nope, property taxes don't fund Hawaii schools, most of the funding comes out of the state's General Fund which is primarily supplied by various sales taxes and such. Sales of everything is taxed in Hawaii so that's a lot of income for the state. Property taxes fund things other than schools. It's all one big school district so presumably, the schools are all funded the same.
I think the biggest difference between teaching in an affluent verses not as well off area is who shows up at your classroom door to be taught and the resources the kids will have. Some of them have access to computers at home and are well fed and clothed, others, well, not so much.
The state all being one big school district does make it much easier for teachers to relocate from one area to another. Once you're in the system, you get first choice of the upcoming teaching positions in other Hawaii schools.
From what I've seen (as a non-teacher) the local admin, especially the principal, has a lot more to do with teacher happiness than the state's overall administration.
Also, teachers are pretty well respected in Hawaii. I've heard some mainland teachers being amazed at that, but I don't know if it's common or just from the area that particular teacher was from.
Nope, property taxes don't fund Hawaii schools, most of the funding comes out of the state's General Fund which is primarily supplied by various sales taxes and such. Sales of everything is taxed in Hawaii so that's a lot of income for the state. Property taxes fund things other than schools. It's all one big school district so presumably, the schools are all funded the same.
I think the biggest difference between teaching in an affluent verses not as well off area is who shows up at your classroom door to be taught and the resources the kids will have. Some of them have access to computers at home and are well fed and clothed, others, well, not so much.
The state all being one big school district does make it much easier for teachers to relocate from one area to another. Once you're in the system, you get first choice of the upcoming teaching positions in other Hawaii schools.
From what I've seen (as a non-teacher) the local admin, especially the principal, has a lot more to do with teacher happiness than the state's overall administration.
Also, teachers are pretty well respected in Hawaii. I've heard some mainland teachers being amazed at that, but I don't know if it's common or just from the area that particular teacher was from.
I see what you are saying. It wouldn't really make sense to use property taxes to fund education when the school system is all one entity under the state. Not sure if all states are like this on the mainland, but every state has a DOE and all schools get some funding from the state, but each county, city, or township is mostly responsible for its funding. And even within a county, each school district is its own entity. So a potential teacher wouldn't apply for a position through the state, but directly to that school district. The state has nothing to do with the hiring process. It's interesting to see these differences.
Most definitely, you have a pro-teacher administration within the schoolit makes the life of a teacher very pleasant.
I think overall on the mainland teachers are not held in high regard. Some parents expect miracles from a teacher and when their child is performing poorly they blame the teacher and hold no personal accountability to themselves and their child. A teacher can only do so much; it is up to the child and parent to do the rest. A teacher can't help a student if they refuse to put in the work. When a parent is involved in their child's education, there is usually a good relationship between the teacher and parent.
I did notice that on the BI, that y'all have your version of rednecks, Hawaiian rednecks. Lot of jacked up pick-up trucks and Jeeps with oversized tires. We have the same thing in Virginia, but Hawaii is missing the Confederate flag flying on their trucks, but I did see the state flag flying proudly. Mudding is a pastime here in Virginia, not sure what the pastime is in Hawaii for your version of rednecks.
Hawaii has a strong car culture. Guys just love to modify their rigs, whether it be lowering, raising, custom paint, restoring classics, putting those obnoxiously loud exhausts on, or what have you.
So, I really don't see the high flyers as "rednecks", identified by any common social characteristics or political bent.
Some may try to defend this practice, saying it's needed for off roading. Nonsense! In most cases, the vehicle would actually be worse for those conditions. Posers, they are. It's just macho horseplay.
Seems a shame to me, making the vehicle less safe and more prone to breaking down, but looking cool has great value too.
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Obviously you didn't read the thread or you would know what the OP does for a living.
