Editorial: Department of Education spending bill misaligns priorities

The state Department of Education is emerging from a debilitating year, especially where student achievement is concerned.

The coronavirus pandemic up-ended the learning process for teachers, children and their families — and the federal government has provided, in separate allotments in 2020 and earlier this year, substantial resources meant to repair some of the damage and move the kids back on the right academic pathway.

This is going to be a long haul, one that should be guided by the educators best equipped to identify student needs. Federal officials know this, which is why they generally look to the local experts to collaboratively come up with the spending plans for federal grant money.

That did not happen with House Bill 613, one of 28 bills that Gov. David Ige is positioned to veto. His rationale for doing so, as presented on Monday, is solid. The Legislature did issue the plan for spending pandemic relief funds for schools — $144.6 million from 2020 and $412.3 million from the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief Fund, a pot of cash dubbed ESSER III.

However, the blueprint in HB 613 did not align with the priorities the DOE had identified, as the federal government required.

Among its more controversial elements: Lawmakers had designated $29.7 million for teacher bonuses of $2,200 each — allocations described in the bill as “one-time stabilization payments,” intended to help stave off teachers’ decisions to leave the profession.

It’s not at all clear that the bonuses, which bypassed other campus staffers as well as union collective bargaining, would have worked. The DOE’s more targeted approach to retain teachers in difficult-to-fill positions such as special education has employed a continuing program of differential payments for those categories. It is a sustained effort that holds more promise than a one-off outlay of funds.

More importantly, the bonuses do not fulfill the needs of the students, who should be the focus of any pandemic relief spending plan.

The DOE has come up with the beginnings of such a plan, an application for the ESSER III funds. The state Board of Education on June 17 approved the document, a strategy and priority outline. The department will have to come back in August with specific spending appropriations and get the board’s approval of those as well.

The devil is in those details, of course, but the broad-strokes assessment of the mission seems to be correct. The top three critical issues:

>> Addressing learning loss, especially for those who already had fallen below benchmarks before the pandemic.

>> Addressing the “social and emotional effects of the extended closure of school campuses,” which will require effective health screening.

>> Implementing strategies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on campuses.

This latter goal is critical, and a real challenge to achieve. Because students under 12 currently do not qualify for a vaccine, school campuses face heightened risks, especially given the spread of the dangerous delta virus variant.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has delayed clear national guidance for in-person learning, so it’s incumbent on the state Department of Health to issue instructions on safe practices for campus communities, and as soon as possible. The school year for students starts Aug. 3.

It is good that the DOE has tapped Waipahu High School Principal Keith Hayashi as interim superintendent: Hayashi has admirable front-line campus experience, which he will need to apply in full measure to the school system, even beginning that transition ahead of his Aug. 1 official appointment.

If there ever was a call for urgency at the DOE, it is now, in what Hawaii hopes will be the final throes of COVID-19.