In announcing the new Race to the Top federal grants for public schools, Education Secretary Arne Duncan took a swipe at Hawaii's decision to furlough teachers (see story here), saying "there's got to be a better way" for the state to save money than reducing instructional days for students. He said the move could hurt the state's application.

The Race to the Top grant program criteria includes equitable distribution of teachers between affluent and poor schools, improving the lowest-performing schools and tying student performance to teacher evaluations. Hawaii is eligible for up to $75 million.

So has the state lost money to save money? Bob Campbell, director of the DOE's federal compliance office, said the furloughs decision "certainly doesn't help" but that "It's a perception that we will very clearly be addressing in our application."

Let's hope the DOE can surmount this hurdle.

Tags: Arne Duncan, children, education, furloughs, Hawaii, Race to the Top, Schools, students, teachers

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