Public expects schools to improve

THE ISSUE Hawaii's schools have gotten a big share of the state's revenue surplus.

A REVENUE surplus allowed state lawmakers to give Hawaii's public schools a reprieve from a new funding formula that cut allocations to some schools, but education officials cannot count on such generosity in the years to come.

It is essential that schools figure out how to adjust when funding next year shifts to the weighted student formula that is a key part of education reform. Even though the formula will likely be adjusted, the changes should not be used to delay implementation further.

Reflecting public priority, legislators sent the Department of Education the lion's share of the state's surplus, estimated at $600 million. About $235 million in new money was approved for renovations at 96 schools and to keep up with routine repairs and maintenance.

With a budget of more than $2 billion, an audit last year recommended a chief financial officer for the department and lawmakers approved the position's pay level of $115,000 a year. Some question whether the amount will be enough to attract a top-rate money manager, who also will face a daunting task of sorting through the department's fiscal operations.

Even so, it would be preferable that the CFO come from outside the DOE, a person with a fresh, objective view for improvement and change.

The Legislature short-sightedly rejected a $50 million new school construction appropriation. It won't be long before the department will need that money to pay private developers who are building homes at a fast pace in areas where schools are either already jammed with children or are nonexistent.

School construction typically lags behind housing projects because of lack of funds to design new facilities and to compensate developers who put them up and sell or lease them to the state.

Education receives strong support from the public, and accordingly receives plenty of taxpayer funding. However, the public also wants students to achieve and to be assured money is being used wisely. In lean years, lack of funds has said to slow improvement. That has become less of a factor this time around.