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Absenteeism, preschool expansion and the teacher shortage will be some of the top education priorities for state legislators when their session begins next month.

School leaders and educational advocates said they’re cautiously optimistic, with Gov. Josh Green fulfilling nearly all of the funding requests from the �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ�� Department of Education in his proposed budget earlier this month. DOE’s budget proposal for the 2025-27 biennium is about $4.6 billion and supports initiatives such as summer learning, school safety and tutoring.

But 2025 also marks the first year in which schools will go without nearly a half-billion dollars in federal Covid-relief funds, which allowed principals to hire more teachers, provide free summer school and expand after-school offerings. 

Lawmakers and education advocates have taken it upon themselves to address the long-term effects of online learning on student achievement. Data released this fall showed some students who were already struggling before the pandemic have since fallen further behind their peers.

Overall spending per student has also fallen , said University of �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ�� emeritus professor Andrew Mason, who studies how support and resources for children and seniors have evolved. While investments in public education have slightly risen, families’ abilities to spend money on private school tuition or books and lessons for their children noticeably fell, Mason said, possibly because of the financial struggles parents faced during the pandemic.

It’s important for the state to step up its investment in education, he added, especially after the challenges schools faced during the pandemic.

“I think this will have effects that last throughout their entire lives,” Mason said.

“If kids are not in school, they are definitely not learning.”

Rep. Justin Woodson

House Education Committee Chair Justin Woodson said boosting student attendance will be a priority this session, pointing to the roughly 25% of students who were chronically absent last year. Before the pandemic, the state’s chronic absenteeism rate was less than half that — 12%. 

Lawmakers are looking at a variety of strategies to boost attendance, Woodson said. One solution may be staffing schools with community liaisons, who would keep in touch with families and help parents overcome the barriers keeping their children from attending class.

“If kids are not in school, they are definitely not learning,” Woodson said. 

State leaders are also considering limiting students’ access to cellphones, Woodson said. Currently, DOE allows schools to develop their own policies around cellphone use, but some teachers and parents say students’ constant access to electronics takes away from their focus in class.  

So far, eight states have adopted policies limiting or banning phones in schools completely.  

Cutting Costs For Teachers And Families

Rep. Jeanne Kapela said she’s committed to finding more ways to recruit and retain teachers this year. Kapela, who serves on the House Education Committee, plans to introduce a bill that would provide rent vouchers to teachers in hard-to-fill areas of the state to help combat the high costs of housing. 

With starting salaries for licensed teachers at just over $53,000, Kapela said, educators are forced to find two or more roommates, live out of their cars or leave the state. 

“That’s not OK,” she said. 

The state has tried to provide more housing options for teachers in recent years but has faced some setbacks as the governor reduced funding for construction projects and some community members opposed an on-campus teacher housing project at Mililani High School. As of last year, DOE operated roughly 50 units of affordable housing across the state and hopes to open another housing project at Lahainaluna High School on Maui next summer. 

Malia Tsuchiya, early childhood policy and advocacy coordinator at , said she would like to see expanded support for child care providers and preschool teachers in the new year. The organization is pushing for a bill to expand early educator apprenticeships, which allow participants to take college courses while working in preschools and child care centers and receiving a salary. 

The organization is also pushing for greater eligibility for Preschool Open Doors, a state program that provides subsidies to families enrolling their 3- and 4-year-olds in private preschool programs.

Under the proposed expansion, the subsidies would also cover child care for 2-year-olds and would raise the income limit to 500% of the federal poverty guideline, said Chevelle Davis, director of early childhood and health policy at HCAN. Families could also automatically qualify for a month of subsidy money as the state processes their applications, she added.

“I think some people view one policy as a silver bullet, and that’s not the case,” Davis said. “A lot of different policies need to happen simultaneously and in tandem with each other to create a sustainable system.”

New Year, Recurring Challenges

Some advocates are also pushing lawmakers to reconsider bills that weren’t successful last session. 

Daniela Spoto, director of food equity at , said she’s hopeful 2025 will be the year for universal free school lunches. Lawmakers have considered bills that would make breakfast and lunch free for all students over the last two years.

Now, she said, lawmakers and the public may better understand that not all families can afford lunch for their students every day, especially after the that nearly a third of local households were food-insecure in 2023. Appleseed estimates it would cost the state an additional $15 million to $24 million a year to run a free school meals program.  

House Education Vice Chair Trish La Chica said she’s aiming to solve the state’s severe school bus driver shortage. For the past three years, DOE has abruptly canceled bus routes for thousands of students shortly before the first day of classes. 

She plans on reintroducing a to allow DOE to use motor coaches and small buses for student transportation, giving companies more flexibility in what vehicles they use. Another proposal would require school leaders to give families more advance notice if they need to cancel bus routes at the start of the year. 

“Families need to know about disruptions ahead of time,” La Chica said. 

One area of uncertainty is how Donald Trump’s upcoming presidency will affect �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ�� schools, especially because he has proposed eliminating the U.S. Department of Education.

David Sun-Miyashiro, executive director of , said he’s keeping an eye on potential changes in federal financial aid for college. For example, he said, more aid may be available for students attending for-profit colleges.

But it’s hard to predict what changes are possible with the new administration. Woodson said he’s skeptical that 2025 could see major shifts in education policy and substantial changes would require the support of Congress.

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.