Why It Matters
The Hawaii Department of Education is reducing hourly reimbursement rates for registered behavior technicians who provide critical support to autistic students in neighbor island schools. The funding cut threatens access to one-on-one services for approximately 1,000 students statewide who require specialized assistance with communication, behavior management, and daily classroom activities. Roughly one-third of students receiving these services live on neighbor islands, where provider shortages are already most severe.
What Happened
Under a new contract taking effect next year, agencies that employ behavior technicians in neighbor island schools will receive $60 per hour for each specialist — a $15 hourly reduction from current rates. The rate change marks a reversal from 2022, when the education department increased compensation for neighbor island providers to expand services in underserved areas. Oahu-based technicians will see a $10 hourly increase to $60, which agency directors say will improve hiring on that island but does not address the most acute shortages.
Registered behavior technicians provide applied behavior analysis services, working one-on-one with autistic students to help them develop communication and social skills while managing behaviors that could prevent classroom participation. For nonverbal students like 13-year-old Ava McCullum of Kealakehe Intermediate on the Big Island, these specialists are essential for accessing education. Ava’s technician helps her communicate through an iPad and prevents behaviors such as leaving class unattended.
By The Numbers
Budget documents show the state allocated nearly $70 million in 2022 to hire approximately 720 technicians and other autism specialists. Four years later, the department has set aside $40 million to contract nearly twice as many technicians — a total of 1,845 employees providing services to roughly 1,000 students. The funding reduction comes despite growing demand for services and ongoing recruitment challenges across the state, particularly on neighbor islands where finding replacement staff when specialists call out sick has proven difficult.
Zoom Out
States nationwide face shortages of trained professionals qualified to work with autistic students in public schools. Reimbursement rates directly affect providers’ ability to recruit and retain qualified staff in rural and remote areas where cost of living may be high but labor pools are limited. When specialists are unavailable, families often keep children home from school rather than risk incidents that could occur without one-on-one support, limiting students’ access to education.
What’s Next
The new contract rates will take effect in the coming school year. Agency directors who operate neighbor island programs say the reduced reimbursement may force difficult decisions about which communities they can continue serving. Department of Education officials said multiple factors contributed to the rate change and maintained that schools are not reducing services for autistic students. Families and advocacy organizations are monitoring whether the funding cuts will affect service availability in practice.