"Hawaii gets $75 million in Race to the Top".. :)

[Cha]

<snip>

"Hawaii will get $75 million in the second round of the $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" school reform grant competition.

The state is among nine states and the District of Columbia selected for the grants.

In a conference call with reporters this morning, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Hawaii made big improvements in its Race to the Top application from round one and has shown its commitment to education by ending teacher furloughs.

"Despite the furlough days, Hawaii has a real chance to take student achievement to a different level," he said. "Hawaii absolutely put its best foot forward."

Last year, Duncan criticized the 17 teacher furlough days that gave Hawaii the shortest instructional calendar in the nation.

In a statement, Hawaii schools superintendent said, "Race to the Top has served as a rallying call to boldly transform public education and schools across our nation. Today, the federal government invested $75 million in Hawaii over the next four years and secured its investment with the unwavering commitment of our educators and stakeholders to execute Hawaii's blueprint for education reform."

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/101384134.html

Who will complain in the gop that Hawai'i is getting Education money?

[quiet.american]

1. Congratulations to Hawaii, Cha! nt

[Cha]

2. Thank you, quiet.american, Hawai'i can really

use that incentive..and congratulations to New York where my sister is quite happy about it, too.

And, all the other States whose students did so well.:fistbump:

[quiet.american]

3. Thanks for that - I didn't think NY could pull it off - but $700M is coming our way!

Nice to have money coming in for once, instead of always going out. Even as we speak, the transit authority here is talking about raising Metrocard fares again. OY.

[Cha]

4. Here's an interesting take from Hawai'i before

they got the money..

"Dare we see hope in Hawai’i schools?"

The Hawai’i team that’s in Washington, D.C., today pitching for up to $75 million in Race to the Top funds represents a promising commitment to improving our struggling public schools.

The group includes top Department of Education officials and representatives of the Hawai’i State Teachers Association, Kamehameha Schools, and through the Hawai’i P-20 initiative, the University of Hawai’i and state preschools.

They’re pledging a top-to-bottom reshaping of our schools to overcome decades of frustration in bringing student achievement up to the highest national standards. One key is better tracking of student progress.

“This reform is going to touch every classroom and every student in the entire state,” said Tammi Chun of the P-20 initiative.

Chun said Race to the Top, incentives structured by the Obama administration to turn around poor-performing schools and better prepare the nation’s children for successful lives, provided what has long been needed in Hawai’i — “an opportunity to look at all of it (the schools system) at once and do a major transformation.”

Hawai’i is one of 19 finalists, with up to 12 states expected to get grants.

Whether we win funding or not, getting stakeholders on the same page has been an achievement in itself. The challenge will be keeping everybody on board — especially the unions — as the plan is executed and tougher standards are put in place."

http://blog.volcanicash.net/2010/08/10/dare-we-see-hope-in-hawaii-schools/

[quiet.american]

5. Excellent. nt