The long-awaited and welcome end of the Furlough Fridays that left Hawaii public schools students with the fewest class days in the United States should be but the first step in a series of intensive efforts to revamp and improve Hawaii's unique statewide education department.

It's understandable that students, parents, school employees, union officials and politicians may wish to heave a collective sigh of relief over the deal, looking forward to the next full school year with optimism. But to do so without reflecting on what brought us here and resolving to change would be a disservice not only to today's students, but to all those who follow.

We must remind ourselves that all the elements that led to the decision—with the full acquiescence of the key players involved—to cut 17 prime instructional days to cope with budget cuts are still in play: powerful unions whose contracts dictate so many aspects of school life, representing principals, teachers and virtually all other Department of Education workers; a convoluted and ultimately unaccountable governance structure that has the Legislature and governor sharing fiscal authority; and an otherwise impotent Board of Education hiring the superintendent, who oversees a single, statewide school system hampered by an outdated central bureaucracy that may be incapable of delivering the flexible, individualized attention that successful schools need.

People talked a lot this year about making public education a priority in Hawaii, but making it a priority means more than giving the DOE more money. It means demanding results. It means putting student achievement, access and success at the center of every debate. Now that the furloughs have been resolved, broader education reform efforts must return to the forefront.

It is deeply significant that Democrat Neil Abercrombie and Republican James “;Duke”; Aiona, two of the leading candidates for governor, who differ so widely on so many political, social and financial issues, broadly agree on changes needed in the Department of Education.

Both want to decentralize the statewide system, shifting authority to the school level, giving principals, teachers, students and parents more flexibility to respond to the unique needs of their own communities.

The debate over decentralization will intensify as the governor's race heats up, with Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann expected to soon join the fray, adding his ideas to the discussion.

It should be possible to refine and preserve Hawaii's equitable statewide funding mechanism while simultaneously freeing up the schools to manage themselves, but doing so will take concerted and sustained effort.

If the stinging memory of Furlough Fridays drives all stakeholders to the table to finally undertake this important work, then those 17 school days will not have been lost in vain.