Hawai'i's Department of Education took a hit from federal officials this week for failing to adequately report how, or if, the state's poor and minority children were getting access to the best possible teachers.

The feds said they couldn't tell from what they were given. The DOE called it a "communication" problem over data requirements, and that seems to be a problem affecting many school districts.

It should serve as a wake-up call for the DOE to address the issue of how to get the most highly qualified teachers to teach in areas where their skills are most needed.

That's not a matter of communication or data gathering, but a matter of action.

Currently, a program is in place that gives licensed teachers an extra $3,000 over three years if they choose to teach in hard-to-staff areas such as Lana'i, Moloka'i, parts of the Big Island and Hana, Maui.

Pay differential used to be a non-starter among the union rank and file, but these days, teachers union official Joan Husted said, her organization is in full support of the pay incentive. Such incentives have been shown to stabilize schools that suffered from high turnover. The union has even suggested adding Wai'anae and Nanakuli to the list of hard-to-staff schools.

There are also "no-cost" incentives to consider. Several states are taking innovative approaches. For example, Nevada offers an extra year of seniority and retirement benefits for every five years of service in a hard-to-staff school. Another idea would allow a teacher to be forgiven a certain percentage of student loan debt for each year of service at a designated campus.

The union is also pursuing public-private partnerships with businesses willing to give teachers discounts and price breaks on everything from utilities to housing.

That's the kind of creativity needed to bring our highly qualified teachers to schools that need them the most.