The U.S. Department of Education has decided not to pull Hawaii鈥檚 $75 million Race to the Top grant but to keep the grant on 鈥渉igh risk鈥� status after federal officials visited the state to check in on progress. However, a deal on teacher evaluations鈥攕een as crucial to the state keeping its grant鈥攕till faces major obstacles.
The state was notified Dec. 21 by the department that it was in danger of losing its grant because it had not made 鈥渁dequate progress鈥� in implementing various pieces of its Race to the Top program. But in a May 4 letter, state officials were told they were on the right track.
鈥淗awaii has taken important steps in the right direction to address setbacks in their Race to the Top work over the last year,鈥� Ann Whalen, the department鈥檚 director of policy and program implementation, said in a statement.
Still, Hawaii Superintendent of Education Kathryn Matayoshi stressed that the state had made excellent progress since December, particularly in classrooms and with teachers.
鈥淲e were in a pretty deep hole, and we knew we needed to dig our way out,鈥� Ms. Matayoshi said in a May 8 interview.
Department officials will conduct another review in five to six months to re-evaluate their decision. Meanwhile, the department has approved a revised budget and key milestones for Hawaii鈥檚 plan.
But unlike in other states, Hawaii鈥檚 new teacher-evaluation system isn鈥檛 yet set in law or regulations. The state board recently voted unanimously to adopt it, but members of the Hawaii State Teachers Association rejected a tentative agreement in January.
Wil Okabe, the president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said in a May 7 email that the association resubmitted the previous January agreement on teacher evaluations to its members for a new vote.
However, a spokeswoman for Gov. Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat, indicated in a May 8 email that the governor no longer views the tentative agreement from January as on the table.
鈥淭he parties will need to follow the normal procedures of collective bargaining,鈥� said the spokeswoman, Donalyn Dela Cruz.
