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Old 01-10-2007, 02:09 AM
 
83 posts, read 952,405 times
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Hello, young teacher considering a move to Hawaii but worried that there is no need for K-12 teachers and even more concerned about the cost of living. Dpes anyone have any good insight on a teacher shortage/surplus and is the cost of living really as bad as people say? Please reply.....
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Old 01-10-2007, 06:48 PM
 
2 posts, read 15,489 times
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Aloha,
I am from hawaii born and raised, i teach 3rd grade for Kualapuu Elementary School on the island of Molokai, the state of hawaii is always in need of more teachers, their always hiring, and the pay i receive is comfy, i recently purchased my home last year, i work full time, and its great!! of course everything else, like food and stuff is expensive but it comes with living in paradise.
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Old 01-19-2007, 05:24 AM
 
48 posts, read 353,625 times
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Yes, Hawaii needs teachers. Like most of the US, the major need areas are for special education and science/math teachers at the secondary level. If you fit this profile it will likely be relatively easy for you to be a public school teacher.

A new teacher will likely have a very hard time making ends meet unless they have an alternative income stream. Many of the teachers that come from the mainland, for instance, are often spouses of military personnel being given assignment in Hawaii. If you're coming alone, you will likely need to find another job.
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Old 01-23-2007, 01:58 AM
 
259 posts, read 1,914,893 times
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Default teaching in paradise

as long as it's a second income to a larger income, you should be okay...we relocated here from Ca, so we were used to a high cost of living...but, never realized it would be so finacially draining here...we have decided to relocate to TX..so we can actually have a savings account again!....very expensive to live here but, like they say, it's the price we pay to live in paradise...we are chalking it up to a two year vacation and don't regret taking the plunge...
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Old 07-23-2009, 04:52 PM
 
9 posts, read 54,718 times
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...so am I dreaming even if I want to to go to a more remote place like the Big Island with a wife and child, hoping to live off one approx. 45K Special Education salary, probably renting a two bedroom apartment? Is it doable if I have no aspirations of buying a home there?
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Old 07-23-2009, 05:14 PM
 
432 posts, read 1,197,595 times
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No, sorry. I think one would be miserable in that situation.

It also means that for mainland family trips or emergencies, you either need to sock away money each month for a travel fund (and be ready to find tickets at Christmas and Easter costing 4-6x normal costs and early-mid summer, 3-4x otherwise) or go into debt.
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Old 07-23-2009, 05:53 PM
 
Location: Waikoloa, HI
32 posts, read 151,320 times
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We live in Kona on the Big Island (me, my fiance, and our 4-year-old son). We make under $45,000 and are definitely not miserable. Just the opposite, we couldn't be happier. We made over $90,000 a year when we lived in Seattle and we were absolutely miserable there. For us, money isn't everything. We live in a very nice 1-bdrm condo with a yard and a garage (neither of which we had on the mainland), although we are planning on moving into a 2-bd home within the next year. We also have very little debt compared to most we know, so that helps. We are able to put money into savings each month. Although it isn't much, we actually are saving more now than we did when we were making really good money on the mainland. There we just seemed to spend, spend, spend. Here there are so many free things to do, we don't spend nearly as much on entertainment/eating out as we used to. We don't worry about travel to mainland as we have a very small family and everyone just comes here to visit us (actually are thinking we need an extra room as often as people come to visit). We do make sure to keep a budget and stick to it, but it is doable. For us, moving back to Hawaii (used to live on Oahu before Seattle) was the best decision we ever made and have no intention of ever leaving.
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Old 07-23-2009, 09:14 PM
 
432 posts, read 1,197,595 times
Reputation: 335
Sounds like you've found a life that works for you.

But I would still maintain that you would be the exception rather than the rule.
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Old 07-23-2009, 11:55 PM
 
9 posts, read 54,718 times
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thanks, surfmonkey17. that gives me hope to at least check it out. i am feeling the same way about cost of living here in Portland, OR. The only reason I'm surviving here is because I ride a bike everywhere. Teaching jobs are tough to come by here, even having a Special Ed. license with a second endorsement in English. i feel lucky just to be subbing here.
i'm not worried about traveling back and forth to the mainland, and my wife is Japanese so her family and friends would also be the ones coming to see us for the most part.
i check craigslist a lot for apartments, and it does seem that the Big Island has halfway decent apartments, many for less than a grand even, so i thought it might be doable just renting a two bedroom place there. hmmm.....feeling more hopeful about this than i was earlier today. also, are mountain biking and trail running good down there?
cheers
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Old 07-24-2009, 12:03 AM
 
Location: Hawaii-Puna District
3,752 posts, read 11,456,634 times
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Apartments and Big Island are two terms that are far apart. There are very few apartments. Most rentals are single family houses or duplexes. Be very careful about craigslist due to all the scams. Go thru local newspapers to get a better idea of rentals. hawaiitribune-herald is a good start.
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