Race To The Top Team Focused On Future, Not Past
Furlough Fridays and the state’s budget crisis didn’t come up today when education experts questioned a state education delegation about its Race to the Top application, the team said.
Hawaii is asking for up to $75 million over four years to support education reforms. It’s one of 19 finalists seeking 10-15 federal grants from the $4.35 billion program.
At 2:30 a.m. Hawaii time today, a five-person delegation from the islands presented the state’s application for one of the coveted grants to a review panel in Washington, D.C.
For 30 minutes, Interim Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi, Acting Deputy Superintendent Ronn Nozoe and three others presented Hawaii’s proposed education reforms. They fielded questions for another 60 minutes.
“We were prepared to respond to a question about the budget crisis, and we were prepared to respond to a question about furloughs, but those never came up,” Matayoshi told reporters in a conference call from Washington. “It was clear that what they wanted to talk about was implementation. We talked about what’s coming up, rather than what’s in the past, because it didn’t fit with where we’re headed, going forward.”
Each of the 19 finalist applications for the second round of Race to the Top grants is being reviewed by a panel of experts this week. The delegates are not allowed to reveal who reviewed their application, but Matayoshi said each expert could serve on up to four panels. Winners will be announced in September.
The delegates representing Hawaii today also included:
- Vice President of Strategic Planning and Implementation at Kamehameha Schools, Christopher Pating
- Hawaii State Teachers Association Executive Director Al Nagasako

- Hawaii P-20 Partnerships for Education Executive Director Tammi Chun
The team was being graded on the application and its components, and not on performance in the panel discussion, said Chun. “It wasn’t like there was a presentation score.”
Nevertheless, Nagasako said he could sense a “unique Hawainness” in the conversation.
“I think one of our strengths is the level of collaboration that was evident in us crafting the application,” Nozoe said.
Asked about how confident they are after the 90-minute session, Nozoe said they felt a sense of relief.
“We were going to go in there and do the best we could to tell Hawaii’s story,” he said. “What they make of what we said is out of our hands. We answered the questions I think fairly well, we chipped in and helped each other out on the answers, and I felt like we went in and gave it our best.”
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