The Hawaii State Department of Education is asking for only qualified and certified teachers to apply to fill the thousands of teacher vacancies that made news last month.

After news got out that the beautiful state was in desperate need to hire, thousands of wishful thinkers began to apply. The problem? Many of them aren’t even teachers.

"Following a recent drive in April, false reporting and inaccurate blogging on social media led to a major influx of applications from people who just want to move to Hawaii. Many of these inquiries came from individuals who are not interested in teaching, but who just want to move to Hawaii under the false impression that the Department will pay for people to move here to live and work,” said the department’s spokesperson Donalyn Dela Cruz to NBC News.

The department went so far as to release a graphic clarifying what it’s looking for when it says it needs teachers. <;p>Like many other districts throughout the country, the department stressed that it is looking for teachers to fill vacancies in special education as well as math and science subject areas.

Further, although many people fantasize about living and working in Hawaii, NBC News reminds people of the reason why high teacher turnover exists in the state to begin with.

"One of the reasons that Hawaii struggles with high teacher turnover is the high cost of living in Hawaii. According to the National Education Association, the average starting teacher salary for Hawaii in 2012 - 2013 was $41,027, just above the national average. However, Hawaii is the most expensive state to live in, according to CNBC,” NBC said.

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Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

5/20/2016