This school year, 48 states reported shortages of special education teachers.
- Hawaii, however, made a change in 2020 to try and solve the problem --Â and it seems to be paying off.
- The state bumped up salaries for special ed teachers by $10,000 per year.
- The year before the incentive was offered, almost 30% of Hawaii's special education positions were vacant or staffed by teachers without appropriate licenses.
- After the incentive, that number has dropped by half, to about 15%.
- According to NPR though, significant incentives haven't caught on more broadly. Why not? Doesn't it seem like a simple solution?