Hawaii Breaks Free from High-Risk Status in Race to the Top

The U.S. Department of Education announced today that Hawaii’s been cleared from high-risk status in its Race to the Top grant.

That means the state DOE is now in good standing and no longer at risk of losing its $75 million in federal education funding. 

Hawaii’s grant was put on high-risk status in December 2011 after the DOE failed to make adequate progress in the first 14 months of its reform plan.

According to a DOE press release, key improvement areas include:

• Aligned state, complex area and school planning and monitoring
• Collaboration with HSTA and other unions to create new evaluation systems for teachers and principals.
• Improved communication both within the department and with the community. 

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono praised the news, saying in a statement, “Our work is not over, but this announcement is the clearest sign to date that our schools are moving in the right direction.”

Read the entire piece here: http://hawaii.news.blogs.civilbeat.com/post/56822869111/hawaii-breaks-free-from-high-risk-status-in-race-to-the