Kauai helps welcome record 237 new J-1 teachers statewide

Six of nine teachers in Hawaii's fourth J-1 cohort landed at Līhue Airport on July 3, where the Kauai Filipino Chamber of Commerce, the KFCC Foundation and Kauai High School Principal Marlene Leary greeted them as the school system prepared for the new year. The arrival on Kauai came as the Hawaii State Department of Education added 237 new J-1 visa teachers statewide, its largest cohort since the exchange program started in the 2020-21 school year.

The new teachers will join about 365 current J-1 visa teachers already in classrooms across the state, bringing the international teaching roster to more than 600. The program has helped keep vacancies below 100 for the past two school years, a sharp change from the more than 1,000 open positions the department faced at the start of school years earlier in the decade. The incoming teachers came from the Philippines, Ghana and Kenya, and orientation included colored leis representing the islands they will serve. Superintendent Keith Hayashi welcomed the cohort.

The program is aimed at hard-to-staff positions, rural communities and STEM fields, and fills remaining gaps after local graduates and on-island candidates are considered first. J-1 teachers may work for three years and extend for two more, giving schools a temporary buffer when recruiting certified staff has been difficult.

A 2025-26 legislative bill analysis said J-1 teachers are fully trained and licensed in their home countries, but current reciprocity rules do not adequately recognize those credentials, and some visiting teachers can be ineligible for hard-to-fill-position pay.

Teachers are scheduled to report on July 28, and students return on Aug. 3, leaving little room for schools to absorb any last-minute gaps. Kauai's welcome echoed the island's similar greeting in July 2025, when local groups helped receive about 20 new teachers from the Philippines through the same program.