Big Island Teaching/Job Selection Questions (Hilo, Mountain View: real estate market, rental, house)

[WASailorGirl]

This may be a "no-brainer" (also I know which way I'm leaning), but would appreciate your feedback.

I've been offered a teaching job in SPED at Laupahoehoe Elementary School. I also have a web-based video conference set up to interview with Kamehameha Schools on April 29th for a Literacy Specialist position.

It sounds like KS contracts the position out to DOE schools (Pahoa, Keonepoko, Kea'au, and Mountain View Elementary). I would be just at one school though - no traveling. I have a M.Ed. in Literacy and have found that most schools do not fund Reading Specialists or Literacy postitions. It's exciting to see that KS really cares enough about literacy education to fund these positions.

I don't know if I will be hired for the position after the interview. (You just never know). I think it's a perfect fit for me, but they may see otherwise. Do I take the sure thing, or hold out for what I really want?

My fiance and I would like to live north of Hilo on the Hamakua Coast near Ninole or thereabouts. Laupahoehoe was my first choice of DOE schools due to distance. I really wouldn't mind commuting to Kea'au, but definitely not to Pahoa.

Thoughts anyone?

Mahalo,
Beth

P.S. Any general feedback on DOE schools vs. Kamehameha Schools on the BI would be great also.

[cynmkolohe]

Do you know exactly what SPED position you would have at Laupahoehoe? Is it one group of students for most of the day, or would you have several groups throughout the day?

[WASailorGirl]

Several groups throughout the day. One boy is there most of the day except for specials.

[cynmkolohe]

If you can hold out on DOE and wait to interview with KS before answering, it would make sense to see what KS has to offer and how the interview goes, especially if it means that the actual work you would be doing each day is more in line with your Literacy training.

That said, I think I might want to avoid the "commute". If it turns out that you are actually working in the Keaau (DOE) schools and not on the Kam campus, there may not be much of a difference in that situation as compared to taking the DOE position in Laupahoehoe. (And being new to the community, there is no faster way to meet people and get acclimated than to work in a local school!)

Just my thoughts...I'm sure there will be many details that will shape your decision. Good luck with the interview process!

[WASailorGirl]

Thanks Cynthia! It seems you can't always have EVERYTHING you want. The perfect job and the perfect location don't always go hand in hand.

I basically told the principal at Lapahoehoe that I had an interview lined up with KS and wanted to see what they had to say. He brought up the distance and tenure. I don't really care about tenure. The longest I've worked anywhere in my life is 3 years. And the distance, well . . . it's a pretty gorgeous drive. Now, affording the gas may be a different story.

I really don't want to get back into SPED if I don't have to. Although, I might sell my soul to get out of this freezing dreary rain!!!!

I know you're a former SPED teacher - you can relate.

Thanks for the well wishes!

[cynmkolohe]

Hi Beth,

I've been following the responses you are getting on "the other forum" and wanted to point out that it is possible to get a property with an ocean view out toward Keaau--it would be a different kind of ocean view, more distant, but there are some pretty nice properties out that way.

If you keep an eye on the communities to the right of the highway (heading out of Hilo), you can find properties occasionally that come on the market that might be pleasant surprises for that area. The parcels of land on that side of the highway tend to be larger acerage properties (often with good soil and some with county water), with a few exceptions of some small subdivision projects.

If you did decide on the job with KS, this might be an option to consider for a while...

I do understand your hesitation about SPED...I was actually an EA in several classrooms at Waiakea High School just after I moved to the Big Island. I do wonder, though, if I might have had a different experience in a smaller school like Lapahoehoe. (Any ideas what % of their SPED positions are actually staffed with "real teachers", not substitutes? That would have made a huge difference in my experience, I think.)

[WASailorGirl]

Hi Cynthia,

I'm not sure about the % of "real" SPED teachers. I asked the principal at Lapahoehoe about the person I would be replacing. (By-the-way, he said he was a TEMPORARY principal). The teacher there now is on some kind of a "special" contract. I don't really know what that means. It sounded like an outside agency was funding her position and now they aren't going to do it anymore. She doesn't sound like a certificated or licensed teacher.

It all sounds a little dysfunctional at that school. It was just my first impression from our conversation. Maybe it's all rainbows and butterflies, I don't know. It made me take pause though, and that's why I'm trying to get feedback from local people about the schools. A school year is a long time to be miserable. If I can avoid that by making a smart choice upfront, then it will make my transition to the BI that much smoother.

Thanks for the info. about the right side of the highway going out of Hilo. I scan the MLS every day and so far haven't seen anything there that has me that jazzed. It's only mid April though and a lot can come up in the next two months. I'm trying to be patient.

I'll be visiting again after June 13th when school is out here. I'll be there to either line up a rental or hopefully, something to buy with an ocean view.

Thanks Again!

P.S. If you know anyone interested in buying a great house with a water view in Port Townsend, WA, I'll send you the link when I get it listed. (in 2-3 weeks) Referral fee!

[smarino]

Dysfunctional is a good word, especially when you are talking about Hawaii schools and more especially the D.O.E. I can't tell you how many people I knew that took these entry level teaching jobs w/ the idea of "living in paradise", only to find that the Hawaii schools were just too problematic, the D.O.E. is basically inept, there were instances of violence in the schools, etc. After a while nearly all of these people moved back to the mainland. My wife worked w/ SPED students in Kea'au and Hilo. She says that she would never go back to doing that. Other teachers we knew had hair raising tales to tell. Before you sell your home, especially in today's real estate market, maybe you should put a tenant in it. Rent in Hawaii and take a temp teaching job and see how it works for you.

[WASailorGirl]

Hi Smarino,

I appreciate your input and caring enough to reply.

As far as selling the house goes, I have no intention of coming back to Washington state even if Hawaii isn't for me. So, I won't have any problems selling it and moving on. We have a beautiful home with a water view in a very desireable, historical, artsy town, and don't anticipate having any problems selling, especially since I'm the listing agent and a marketing guru.
Our market here is holding up pretty well in spite of issues elsewhere. If by some chance, it's more difficult than I think, we do know some friends dying to get out of the Arizona heat that wouldn't mind renting it for a year.

I have thought about renting in Hawaii, however we have two furry family members, and my SO's brother is also coming with his two dogs. It's kind of difficult to find a rental that will take two dogs, let alone four.

I've always done well on my real estate purchases, and think we'll be okay.

I know all about the difficulties of SPED jobs. I've been in the business about 12 years. It doesn't matter if it's the Hawaii DOE schools or Washington schools or any state in the country, the public schools are underfunded everywhere. Kids are hurting everywhere. Families are falling apart everywhere. Public education is in crisis everywhere (in my opinion). Teaching is not for the faint of heart wherever you work. You have to really love it (which I do) and take the bad with the good.

Even if I end up with a DOE job, and find it too unbearable, there are plenty of private and charter schools as options for me. I'm highly qualified (B.A. in SPED and M.Ed. in Language and Literacy), and have experience in both private and public schools in the last 12 years. (I think I could find something I would love on that great Big Island )

I'm not sure why you call SPED jobs "entry level" teaching jobs. They are far from it. It takes a lot of specialized skill and training to work with students with various disabilities and challenges. In addition, you have to manage legal paperwork for each student, conduct meetings with administration, parents, and other staff members, administer on-going assessment throughout the year, and collaborate with each regular classroom teacher on modifications when the students are not in your room. All the while managing students of varying abilities that may have behavior and emotional challenges as well. Public perception is often not based on the reality of what the job entails.

I do appreciate your cautionary tale - it seems I've heard a lot of that lately. I'm pretty adventurous and have moved around a lot in my life. Hawaii is just the next adventure - it may be the last, and maybe not. I'm okay with that.

Mahalo

[nanette3]

Hi to prospective newcomers,

I live here, and plan, long-range, to leave. I am inserting a cautious note in making decision about moving here. Many have come, and left, who have taken positions with the DOE. Some in the middle of the year. It's no one's fault really; this is just more different from the mainland than you would think. This state, and particularly this island, is more remote and isolated than you would think, not living here. And it is likely that you will also end up more isolated than you think, once here. The intellectual climate is very different from what you might think. If you can, see one of the newspapers. Check out the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. It's not the mainland. The term third world country is not far-fetched. Because of the greater tendency of Kamahemaha students to take learning seriously, which makes it easier for the students to concentrate, I recommend a focus there. You cannot know the truth of the situation here (developing resort island for wealthy mainland retirees) until you actually do live here. I'm not usually a negative person. All that said, and left unsaid come, for a few years! Staying here can be part of a later equation.

Some issues: militarization of this island including depleted uranium in parts of this island: an issue. Perhaps this will change if we have another group in the White House. Fancy food (read, for example: oats!) other than what can be grown here comes by barge. There is a sense that eventually, those here who want to leave, will not easily be able to leave. If you are coming with money, hang on to it. So... ... these are some additional underlying flavors of life here. Written very very late at night - I got up to google something related to exact mileage for a sped interview next week and landed here at this great website - which I have in the past used to explore options in leaving eventually. You can find other posts... or perhaps I received private messages, from teachers here who realized, after about a year, that this wasn't where they wanted to be, and stayed longer than they'd planned (like myself), and eventually left. I want to end saying: I am grateful for the beauty here. That is another subject. But you can find beauty anywhere. Bottom line: a visit of even many years may not turn into a life-long commitment. Aloha!