Hawaii Will Host “Race to the Top” Team Next Week

The Hawaii Department of Education has not had a lot of high points over the past few years. Now they are going to have to try and highlight any accomplishments they have had recently when the U.S. Department of Education review team visits Hawaii Tuesday through Friday of next week to conduct a fiscal review and reassess the “high-risk” status of a $75 million grant the department warned could be taken away because of unsatisfactory progress on promised reforms.

The “Race to the Top” team will be here and they will make the final decision on the money, and whether Hawaii will be able to keep it and receive more, or if funds will be cut because the Hawaii DOE has not used the funds properly. My guess would be the latter, as Hawaii DOE has not been known for properly using funds.

Among the highlights state education officials plan to show off include last month’s teacher union agreement for schools in zones targeted by reforms. The teachers in those schools ratified an agreement for extended learning time and additional professional development days.

Hopefully this will be enough for Hawaii to be able to keep the money and receive future funds. We need it, so we will see.