Education is a lifelong process. That's especially true for the educators themselves.

The fact that the state's public schools invest quite a bit of money in professional development should be counted as a credit to the Department of Education, not a demerit.

That said, the latest flap over travel expenditures — more than 600 educators from Hawai'i attending the recent Model Schools conference in Florida — points to the need to think more strategically about deploying resources in today's stark budgetary landscape. As funds grow scarce, educators will need to more closely scrutinize how every dollar is spent.

The spotlight turned on the issue of travel budgets during the recent debate over proposed cuts in the junior varsity sports program. Gov. Linda Lingle pointed out that the

$1.2 million spent on the conference was enough to cover the costs of JV sports.

The issues are somewhat disconnected. Much of the travel budget comes from federal dollars that are earmarked for that purpose and could not be shifted to JV sports.

And the link between the current budget woes and the conference is a weak one. Travel plans for the Model Schools conference — ranked by many professionals among the country's premier school-improvement events — were set, largely at the discretion of individual schools, months before Lingle announced across-the-board budget cuts.

But the governor is correct on the general point that money is tight and that, going forward, more hard choices must be made about spending.

Superintendent Pat Hamamoto already is on the right track, having issued a memo shortly after the 4 percent cutbacks were announced, underscoring a requirement that all travel be approved by school complex administrators.

That sharper oversight will help, along with exploring ways to stretch professional development dollars through teleconferencing, flying experts to the Islands and dispatching smaller delegations to various events that target specific educational needs.

Planned carefully, there should be enough travel money to fill a critical need for our teachers: a chance to connect with colleagues nationally. They can gain immensely, bringing home new, successful approaches to their classrooms — and our kids.