Hawaii public schools’ Strive HI Performance System reports are in for 2022-23 — and well, they could be worse. On a statewide basis, language arts proficiency held steady at 52%, while math proficiency among students increased by two points: to 40%. Ouch.

Schools had crawled upward in math proficiency to 43% in 2018-2019. Then the COVID-19 pandemic brought systemwide closures, resulting in sharp drops in interim years — all the way down to a low of 32% in 2020-21. Nonetheless, Hawaii schools continue to hold their own, on a comparative basis, with other states. And there certainly remains a lot of upside potential.