Cost of Living Concerns (Kailua: rentals, public schools, teacher salaries)

[jjteachers]

Hello, My husband and I really appreciate the information from this website as we look into relocating to Hawaii.

My husband has spent countless hours researching. We are both teachers in Michigan and have a great set up here. However, we are young with no kids and are looking for an adventure before we start a family. We don't want to live with any regrets.

Here are our concerns/questions about Hawaii. If you have any insight please help us out!

1. Will we be able to afford the cost of living in Hawaii on two teacher salaries. We have looked for jobs in Hawaii and because we both teach in "shortage" areas, there are teaching opportunities for us paying about $40,000 each. Can we live with rent, food, and adventures for $80,000?

2. We've found that there are huge meth problems and a high percentage of kids live with parents that use drugs. Being teachers who want to make a difference in the lives of children, is it safe?

3. We have narrowed down a list of places that we would love more informtation on: Maui, Kailua-Kona, and Kailua on Oahu. Any other suggestions?

Thank you for taking the time to read through our concerns and questions. Please let us know if you have any information.

[hotzcatz]

My DH teaches and he prefers the more rural schools since the kids are much better connected with their community and parents. He taught in several schools on Oahu and sometimes he wouldn't get a very helpful response when he tried to get the parents involved. He has found the schools on the Big Island have had a higher level of parental involvement.

All the public schools in Hawaii are run by the state so the upper level admin is all the same. Most of the schools are underfunded so they usually have the teachers scrambling for ways around getting stuff they need. Sometimes they get grants, sometimes they get donations from the community, sometimes they get stuff from their own salary, sometimes they do without whatever it is.

If you ask the school office, they may have some sort of teacher cottages or some sort of rentals available to teachers. There is a high level of turn over among the teachers so there is generally something available for rent. Hopefully you will both be at the same school. What grades are you looking at?

It will be different than teaching on the mainland but my DH finds it rewarding.

At $80K you should be able to live fairly well, but it will probably be different than you are used to on the mainland. Teacher salaries are actually almost high paid jobs compared to other salaries available to folks around here. Kailua Oahu will have the highest cost of rent/food, then most areas of Maui and then the Kona district on the Big Island.