Hawaii Fires 10 Teachers for Misconduct in 2 Years

flickr: krossbow

UPDATED 7/8/11 12:01 a.m.

Editor's Note: This article has been superseded by new data released by the Department of Education. For the updated information, go here.

Only 10 teachers in the entire Hawaii Department of Education have been fired for misconduct in the last two years. That's 10 out of about 12,000 teachers, or less than one-tenth of 1 percent. The Department also suspended 37 teachers for misconduct over the same period.

Teacher performance and accountability are central to most education reform discussions, and both play a key role in negotiations with the teachers union this year.

A Civil Beat investigation found that over the past two years the district disciplined teachers for misconduct in 42 of its 257 schools, or 16 percent. No teachers were fired on Kauai or the Big Island. Teachers were disciplined on all the islands, with 35 of the cases on Oahu, three on Maui, three on Kauai and six on the Big Island.

Of the 47 misconduct cases, 20 were at elementary schools, nine at middle or intermediate schools, 11 at high schools and seven at schools with multiple levels.

Four schools had more than one case of discipline for misconduct. Hauula Elementary School fired one teacher and suspended another. At Farrington High School, three teachers were suspended. And Kaahumanu Elementary School and Kahuku Intermediate and High School both suspended two teachers.

Civil Beat obtained the list of teachers discharged or suspended via a public records request submitted to the department last October.

Loading