High school graduation day looms for many isle families, a lei-bedecked occasion filled with balloons, parties and happiness.

In the back of everyone’s mind, there’s a bit of worry, or perhaps a lot of it. What will the future bring for Hawaii’s Class of 2013?

For those who accept the general premise that a high school diploma doesn’t secure a financial future — and most people who track the employment trends do accept it — Hawaii needs to get more of its next generation better positioned for a successful work life.

Putting a rosier spin on things, the latest college- and career-readiness report released last week by the state Department of Education does show modest improvement, on the whole. After several years in which Hawaii’s rate of high school graduates going on to college hovered at about 50 percent, it bumped up to 53 and then, in 2012, to 54 percent.

The report was produced by the DOE and the University of Hawaii in cooperation with the nonprofit Hawai‘i P-20 Partnerships for Education and Kamehameha Schools, all committed partners to the goal of workforce development.

While progress at the macro level is good, the state must accelerate the pace if it will meet its goal of 71 percent of those with a high school diploma going on to college by 2018. That’s a lot of ground to cover, in a short time.

And at the micro level, certain communities aren’t doing so well.

Among the more startling examples, Nanakuli High School’s college-bound rate actually fell from 33 percent in 2011 to 29 percent the following year.

That compares, at the other end of the spectrum, with Kalani High School, at 81 percent. It simply isn’t right that in Hawaii’s statewide, single school district there should be such variability. Students from every community deserve a decent shot at success, even given the socioeconomic unevenness.

Success doesn’t necessarily mean a four-year degree, or even a degree at all, but simply a way to secure a job that pays a living wage.

It’s not impossible to get such a thing with a high school diploma, but the outsourcing of the less-skilled manufacturing assembly-line opportunities has made it much, much harder.

For many people, the needed bump may come from a certificate course that supplies a needed skill — and the better-paid jobs, including the blue-collar jobs, now tend to require something of the sort.

Concerted efforts already are being made to persuade more students that post-secondary education is good for them.

Kamehameha Schools, for example, has done a great deal of outreach to students in poorer communities, many of them falling into generations-old patterns.

Such efforts to elicit family support for these students, including parents who may not perceive that college could be in their children’s future, must continue.

Businesses are part of this team. In existing work-study programs, students get exposed to the various work opportunities that are out there and shown that their own talents may lie in a direction they never envisioned.

But as in all campaigns to strengthen the community, more can be done. The continuing development of UH-West Oahu could be a key element in further progress. Its range of programs are geared for training students in fields with some local promise, including applied sciences and health care. The facts that tuition there is lower than at the flagship Manoa campus, and that it is located much closer to some of the areas where higher education is a challenge, could make college accessible to many more.

The federal College Access Challenge Grant Program and Hawai‘i P-20 last year gave a $40,000 grant to UH-West Oahu to provide college preparatory activities for high school students, showing them how college can help, and providing practical information for families who need guidance in financial aid and other fundamentals in the process. This is an encouraging step in the right direction.

On its website, Hawai‘i P-20 has posted a logo for the "55 by ’25 Campaign" — stating Hawaii’s goal to have 55 percent actually earn a college degree by 2025.

That’s a laudable goal, but we’re going to have to pick up the pace to get there.