In 2010, after earning a master of business administration degree, I was still in search of the right career. Around this time, a friend suggested I try substitute teaching. I decided to give it a shot and fell in love with it. I had finally found my calling and wanted to become a full-time teacher; however, I needed to earn a post-baccalaureate, which was going to cost nearly $20,000.
Since 2017, the Grow Our Own Initiative (GOO) has provided the perfect opportunity for substitutes to transition into teaching. GOO covers the cost of tuition for a post-baccalaureate certificate or a master’s of education degree. Unfortunately, back in 2013, GOO did not exist. Instead, I relied on the federal Teacher Loan Forgiveness (TLF) program.
Because I was already paying on student loans, I didn’t want to go further in debt to pursue my dream of teaching. However, through the TLF program, I could receive $17,500 in loan forgiveness if I taught science for five years. This made the thought of taking out additional student loans more palatable.
I earned my post-baccalaureate in 2014 and began teaching just three months later. Since then, I’ve taught a number of high school science courses and in 2022 I earned National Board Certification. I am what should be considered a success story of the TLF program — a teacher who, after pursuing certification on the condition of loan forgiveness, continued positively impacting students beyond the minimum five years. Yet my story does not have a happy ending.
I’ve received the denial letter four times now. The first time was in 2019 after completing my initial five years. I thought I had done everything right. The loans I was seeking forgiveness on were the specific loans I had taken out to become a teacher. Yet my loan forgiveness application was denied on the grounds of one sentence: “To qualify for loan forgiveness, you must not have had an outstanding balance on a Direct Loan or FFEL (Federal Family Education Loan) program loan on October 1, 1998.”
This line never caught my attention because the loans I was seeking forgiveness on were taken out after 1998. However, because I had an outstanding student loan in 1998, I was being denied forgiveness for loans taken out 15 years later for the sole purpose of becoming a teacher.
There are others out there with stories like mine — people who took a chance on teaching with the promise of loan forgiveness. They did everything right, or so they thought. Many have stayed beyond the minimum of five years. But they are now straddled with debt they did not expect.
At the federal level, the teacher loan forgiveness program has caused disappointment. At the state level, however, complications with federal loan forgiveness could present an opportunity. Because Hawaii continues to struggle with a teacher shortage, a state loan forgiveness program could improve recruitment and retention. By providing loan forgiveness to teachers who missed out on GOO and who do not qualify for federal loan forgiveness, such a program would incentivize homegrown teachers to stay. Moreover, offering loan forgiveness to those pursuing a bachelor of education degree would entice high schoolers to go into teaching.
The state of Hawaii was first in the nation to launch loan repayment for health-care workers. We must now be first in the nation with another out-of-the-box solution to attract and retain teachers. If we truly believe in preparing youth for the challenges of tomorrow, we must invest in public school teachers today. Doing so means employing innovative strategies to make teaching a more attractive career option, including launching a Hawaii State Teacher Loan Repayment Program.
Christine Russo is a public school teacher in Ewa Beach; she is a 2022-2024 Hawaii State Teacher Fellow and is a nationally board certified teacher.
