by Andrew Walden

In an October 14 letter to Gov Abercrombie—only now reaching public attention—US Department of Education officials grant a request for the Hawaii Department of Education to shift $1.06M in Race to the Top money out or pre-kindergarten and away from the neighbor islands. The funds will instead be used to create three high-level administrative position within the DoE Central Office.

US Department of Education Deputy Secretary Ann Whalen explains:

For the project area of State Success Factors, for the Reorganization of Offices project, reallocate funds to hire two additional Educational Officers to provide high-level support to the Assistant Superintendent for Strategic Reform in overseeing individual projects across the Race to the Top plan. These positions will be supported by $454,366 in unused year 1 personnel costs due to late hiring and $351,401 from pre-kindergarten subsidies that will now be supported by State funds. In total, $805,767 will be used to support salary and fringe benefits for these positions over the course of the grant.

For the project area of State Success Factors, for the Community Engagement project, reallocate $160,000 to hire a Communication Specialist II for years 2 and 3 of the grant.The Communication Specialist II will be responsible for developing content for collateral materials, articles, social media, websites, and other related items, and managing the community engagement portal content. Funds will be reallocated from neighbor island travel expenses for three councils and five advisory groups. The councils and advisory groups will continue to meet and fulfill their purpose via teleconferencing

This is how the money Races to the Top of the DoE foodchain.

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Star-Adv Snowjob: Changes to state education reforms get federal OK

Full Text: DoE Oct 14 Letter