An Education Department official has admonished Hawaii for its "unsatisfactory" performance under a $75 million federal grant the state won last year in a high profile competition and said it was placing it under "high risk" status.

That means the state is in danger of losing the money if it doesn't
make improvements.

This is the first time the department has placed under such a status a state that won dollars distributed in the competition known as "Race to the Top."

Hawaii has been well over a year behind in implementing many aspects of its plan to improve low-performing schools. It has also struggled to roll out the teacher evaluation system tied to teacher performance.

In response, Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi acknowledged that "there's work to be done."