SB2551

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the BridgeUSA J-1 visa program, administered by the United States Department of State, offers foreign teachers an opportunity to teach in accredited schools in the United States serving students in grades kindergarten through twelve. The J-1 visa program was also designed to help address the ongoing chronic teacher shortage while providing academic and cultural exchange opportunities to visiting teachers. Furthermore, the J-1 visa program offers the opportunity for foreign teachers of various backgrounds to become a part of educational communities to reflect the diversity of student populations across the nation.

The legislature further finds that although 22.4 per cent of the public school student population in Hawaii identifies as Filipino, only 7.4 per cent of educators share the same ethnic background. According to the federal Institute of Education Sciences, diverse educator representation has a significantly positive effect on student learning. Teachers of color can often help close achievement gaps and improve attendance and behavioral outcomes and are highly rated by students of all backgrounds. Beyond academic benefits, having educators who reflect their students' backgrounds can inspire future goals. Seeing role models in the classroom can encourage students to pursue similar career paths. Presently, the State's implementation of the J-1 visa program has aimed to expose Filipino children to Filipino educators, inspiring them to consider careers in education. Moreover, the J-1 visa program has contributed to classroom diversity while eliminating certain barriers to academic achievement.

Since its implementation, the J-1 visa program has been a resounding success. To date, three hundred sixty-five internationally certified educators, primarily from the Philippines, serve in one hundred and one public schools statewide. Similar to the Philippines, Kenya also has strong educational equivalencies, and the State currently employs four educators from Kenya with twenty-five additional educators from Africa set to arrive in the 2026-2027 school year. Educators from the J-1 visa program are beneficially affecting the State's diverse classrooms, and the program has strong support from community organizations, including groups from the Filipino community.

However, the State's existing licensing rules limit the full potential of prospective international teachers participating in the J-1 visa program. Because the State does not recognize foreign teaching licenses for reciprocity, visiting international teachers are required to complete a series of additional examinations that often cost more than $1,000 and demand extensive preparation time. These requirements place a disproportionate burden on educators who are already adapting to a new cultural and professional environment.

As a result, many teachers in the J-1 visa program are unable to complete the State's full licensure requirements within the three-year duration of their visa program. This inability prevents them from remaining for the optional two-year extension permitted under federal rules -- an extension that many other states use by offering streamlined visiting-international-teacher permits for the full duration of the teachers' visas. States such as Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Texas have implemented specialized permits that allow teachers to serve for the full five years of their exchange program.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to require the Hawaii teacher standards board to develop an alternative pathway for a visiting international educator permit aligned to the duration of the educator's J-1 visa program. By doing so, the State would create a more equitable and culturally responsive public educational system, strengthening teacher retention, increasing instructional continuity for students, and ensuring that Hawaii benefits from the full five years of service that these highly qualified teachers are eligible to provide.

SECTION 2. Section 302A-802, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

"(c) The board shall adopt policies, exempt from chapters 91 and 92, to initiate the following:

(1) Develop criteria allowing more individuals with trade or industry experience to teach in vocational, technical, and career pathway programs, and criteria for the issuance of permits allowing qualified individuals to teach when recommended by the superintendent or the commission, when appropriate. The department or the commission, when appropriate, shall be responsible for the review and acceptance of the relevant licenses, certificates, or other qualifications related to an individual's vocational, technical, or career pathway education-related experience that the department or the commission, when appropriate, deems necessary for a permit. The department or the commission, when appropriate, shall have the authority to waive the requirement of a bachelor's degree to teach in a vocation, technical, or career pathway education program;

(2) Develop a plan to accept teachers from any state as long as they have completed state-approved teacher education programs and pass relevant Hawaii teacher examinations or their equivalent;

(3) Clarify the requirements, on a state-by-state basis, for out-of-state licensed teachers to obtain a license in Hawaii;

(4) Develop a plan to facilitate licensing for those who intend to teach in Hawaii immersion programs, the island of Niihau, or any other extraordinary situation as defined by the superintendent or the superintendent's designee, or by the commission, when appropriate;

(5) Pursue full teacher license reciprocity with all other states; [~~and~~]

(6) Develop a plan to facilitate an optional certification for those who teach or intend to teach at private schools[.]; and

(7) Develop an alternative pathway for a visiting international educator permit to promote cultural exchange between the State and foreign nations. The permit shall authorize a visiting international educator who agrees to come to the United States temporarily as a full-time teacher of record in an accredited primary or secondary school to teach all subjects and grade levels for which the educator is qualified and is employed by the department. A visiting international educator permit developed by the department shall remain valid for the duration necessary to complete the educator's participation in a visiting international educator exchange program."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval and shall be repealed on June 30, 2031; provided that section 302A-802, Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall be reenacted in the form in which it read on the day prior to the effective date of this Act.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2551
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII