Hawaii State FCU grants $22,000 to help teachers buy supplies

Hawaii State FCU said June 22 that it awarded $22,000 to 44 public school teachers statewide through its 2026 Investing in Education grant program, with Big Island classrooms included among the recipients. The grants, capped at $500 per teacher, are meant for classroom supplies, books, technology, equipment and other materials that support student learning.

For parents, the story points to a quiet gap in public education funding: teachers are still paying for basics themselves. Hawaii State Teachers Association survey data from more than 530 educators found that respondents spent an average of $953 a year out of pocket on classroom-related expenses, and some said they spent as little as $75 or as much as $4,000. That kind of spending is what the Hawaii State FCU grant is trying to soften, even if only at the margins.

A $500 grant can help a teacher restock pencils, paper, books or classroom technology, but it will not erase the larger costs many educators carry over a full school year. Spread across 44 teachers, the $22,000 award averages out to exactly $500 each, a small share of the money teachers often say they spend to cover shortages in their own rooms. The credit union had said the 2026 program would have $40,000 available, underscoring that the June announcement covered only part of the cycle’s funding pool.

Hawaii State FCU said applicants had to be Hawaii Department of Education classroom teachers and members of the credit union, and teachers who had received an Investing in Education grant in the previous three years were not eligible. Applications were open from Feb. 3 through April 3, 2026, and teachers had to describe their classroom needs, why existing funds were unavailable and how the grant would improve student learning.

The credit union said the program has been running since 2009 and has since awarded 1,123 grants totaling more than $532,000 statewide. Del Mochizuki, senior vice president and chief of staff, said teachers play an essential role in shaping the future of communities and that the credit union wants to ease the burden created by those out-of-pocket expenses.