MEDIA RELEASE

The U.S. Department of Education has acknowledged the progress that the State of Hawaii has made in its Race to the Top plan.

The DOE also informed Gov. Neil Abercrombie that Hawaii has met the Scope of Work and budget conditions and will therefore remove Hawaii from cost reimbursement status.

In light of this news, Abercrombie released the following statement:

“In our conversation (last week), U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan acknowledged that Hawaii is making good progress on our Race to the Top plans. As a result he will remove cost reimbursement restrictions, which had been in effect.

“I remain in close contact with Secretary Duncan to keep him personally informed of our commitment and continued progress.

“That includes the recent action by the State of Hawaii Board of Education to finalize statewide educational policies establishing the framework for performance management of principals and teacher evaluations. We believe that this focus on our children and student performance are key elements in establishing success.

“We appreciate the U.S. Department of Education’s investment in Hawaii. We will continue to press forward on these reforms with the objective of ending the high risk status currently under review.”

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Hawaii retains $75M Race to the Top grant

MEDIA RELEASE

The U.S. Department of Education has reported Hawaii will retain its Race to the Top grant, following an on-site visit by the federal review team in March.

During the visit, Hawaii presented evidence of progress on its Race to the Top plan implementation.

Along with the positive news that Hawaii is maintaining its Race to the Top grant, fiscal sanctions imposed last year will be lifted as of June 1. This action allows Hawaii to spend Race to the Top grant money to achieve its approved plan with more freedom and efficiency.

“The U.S. DOE has acknowledged Hawaii has taken steps in the right direction, and we will continue to move forward on all of our deliverables,” said Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi. “A transformational change is taking place in Hawaii’s public schools. This change is focused on creating a better learning environment to boost student achievement.”

Hawaii will continue to work closely with federal officials to reform Hawaii’s public education system and move the state into good standing.