Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Representative Neil Abercrombie said today that Hawaii will receive $129 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education, based on acceptance of its application for State Stabilization funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

The Hawaii Congressional Delegation expressed concern to U.S. Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan in April following Governor Linda Lingle’s announcement of plans to use federal education funds to balance the state budget rather than to invest in improving classroom education for Hawaii school students. This federal funding is intended to save teaching jobs put at risk by state and local budget cuts.  Representatives Abercrombie and Mazie K. Hirono, and Senators Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye wanted to be sure that the Governor’s plans did not put additional recovery funds for the schools at risk.

“We don’t want state budget shell games to leave our keiki in overcrowded classrooms with insufficient resources,” said Abercrombie. “We’ll monitor the situation to be sure that Hawaii meets all the requirements for the recovery funds.”

Hawaii is required to collect, publish, analyze and act on information regarding the quality of classroom teachers, annual student improvement, college readiness, the effectiveness of state standards and turning around underperforming schools.  The state must also report the number of jobs saved through Recovery Act funding, the amount of state and local tax increases averted and how the funds are used. 

If all requirements are met, Hawaii could be eligible to apply for another $63 million in stimulus funding this fall. To date, Hawaii has received $40 million in education stimulus funds to improve the academic achievement of disadvantaged students, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and in Vocational Rehabilitation and Independent Living grants.
 
An even bigger opportunity for additional federal money to Hawaii schools and classrooms will be the Department of Education’s “Race to the Top” fund, with more than $4 billion in competitive grants to states that show measurable progress in:

• Boosting teacher effectiveness and getting more good teachers into high-poverty, high-minority schools;
• Setting up data systems to track how much a student has learned from one year to the next;
• Improving academic standards and tests;
• Supporting struggling schools.

“We can bring significant federal funds to Hawaii schools to help us hold on to hard working, dedicated teachers and staff, and continue to improve the quality of education, even when state and local governments are struggling financially,” Abercrombie said. “But, if we try to short-change education funding now, we risk losing a lot more, and our children will wind up paying for it.”

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