Chalk it up as progress that the state Department of Education has cleared 19 cases from its backlog of employee misconduct investigations. Many of them were lingering on the books for far too long. The public hopes that the DOE maintains the pace of investigations to reduce the delays. Also, the report for the first time included the outcomes of the resolved cases, thanks to feedback from Board of Education members.

That kind of transparency should serve as a model — for the Honolulu Police Department, perhaps?

A wealth of choices for HPD chief

Speaking of the Honolulu Police Department: Some three dozen applicants have put their hats in the ring to become Oahu’s next police chief. The vacancy opened after the March 1 retirement of Louis Kealoha, who is now a target of a federal criminal case.

For the applicants, now comes the process of a written exam and scenario-based assessments; they will be whittled down to a list of finalists, who will undergo background checks, psych evaluations and interviews by the Police Commission. Given the significant loss of confidence and morale in Kealoha’s waning months, let’s hope all this robust interest and vetting will produce a chief who will do better by the HPD and the public.