When the Department of Education spends nearly $2 billion of state money annually there is simply no excuse for a lack of transparency and accountability.

It's encouraging, then, to hear James Brese, the DOE's new chief financial officer, call for a sweeping system-wide review — even including surprise audits — to make sure the state agency handles its money effectively.

Brese, the former director of fiscal services at Shriners Hospital, said there have always been some procedures in place, but admitted that some may need to be updated. "We need to look at all processes and procedures to see if they're being followed," he said during a phone interview.

This type of self-examination is a welcome step, and long overdue.

The call for internal audits comes in the wake of a scathing report from State Auditor Marion Higa's office on financial mismanagement at Kailua High School. Brese has given the school a month to respond. Much can be learned from those answers to help determine which of the issues are systemic or isolated.

But the real value of that state audit may be in how it provides a ready-made roadmap for the DOE to evaluate all its schools.

The audit looked into areas such as procurement, inventory and how co-curricular activities, such as athletic teams and music groups, spend and raise money. As a tool evaluating management and performance, it also went beyond the numbers and examined such issues as the school's staffing and training, and whether that was sufficient to meet the fiscal demands transferred to the schools under Act 51, the education reform law.

The DOE's review needs to be just as insightful.

Brese said staffing and training are already in the process of being addressed. He's also looking into developing better tools to control inventory and review spending.

It remains uncertain how many of the nearly 300 schools will be audited or how in-depth those audits will be. Every school, however, deserves the same level of attention and scrutiny. In order to get the job done, the DOE must hire reinforcements to its current auditing staff of one. Any audit must be as thorough and aggressive as possible in order to make the proper assessments and diagnoses.

The DOE has taken a step in the right direction. To improve our schools, there must be a level of accountability that will serve both the taxpayers and our children well.