Lingle announced on October 28, 2010 that she has authorized the use of $5,208,793 in federal stimulus funds to support Extended Learning Opportunities for students at public schools that have not met Adequate Yearly Progress.

In Hawaii, Extended Learning Opportunities add instructional time to the scheduled school day. When this change is implemented, it also adds classes during Saturdays, semester breaks and summers. The extended periods aim to help students who need remedial instruction or who miss classes and need more credits to graduate.

“These federal funds will provide additional support to students by giving them extra instructional time to help them in their coursework and improve their overall achievement, thereby improving the performance of our schools,” said Governor Lingle. “I appreciate the work by the Department of Education to identify schools that will benefit from the federal funding and help their students in the classroom.”

The $5.2 million funding is part of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, Part B made available to the state as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress in February 2009.

Lingle enjoyed high approval ratings, usually around the 70% range, but her popularity had its limits. Lingle spent much of 2004 campaigning for state legislative candidates (the legislature has a Democratic super majority and she wanted to have enough members to block them from overriding her vetoes) and for President George W. Bush on the "mainland" (the states outside of Hawaii and Alaska). When some polling late in the election showed Bush tied or narrowly leading Democrat John Kerry, Lingle jumped at the chance to help the Republicans carry her state for the first time since 1984. Vice President Dick Cheney even campaigned in the state. Ultimately, not only did Kerry win the state, but Republicans lost five seats in the state legislature, reducing their presence to near single-digits and causing the Democrats to consider Lingle more vulnerable than they initially expected. In spite of their new confidence, Lingle was re-elected after her 2006 re-election campaign.

As governor her greatest accomplishments are creating a record surplus of $730 million. Before that, the budget was in a $250 million budget deficit. She is also is credited for developing a strong economy, leaving Hawaii with a very low unemployment rate. She is also popular for signing in the Three Strikes Law Bill and Sex Offender Registry Website. In education, she has attempted to divide the State Board of Education into seven local school boards, but has failed. One of her biggest controversial issues is the practice of sending prisoners to the mainland, as opposed to building a new prison in Hawaii. In 1980, Lingle was elected to the Maui County Council, where she served five two-year terms. Lingle served three of those terms representing Molokai and two terms as an at-large member. Upon the 1990 retirement of Hannibal Tavares as mayor of Maui County, Lingle decided to challenge former Maui mayor and Hawaii State Speaker of the House of Representatives Elmer Cravalho for the seat. Despite polls showing Lingle trailing far behind her Democratic opponent, Lingle proved victorious. The Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin newspapers declared the election one of the biggest upsets in Hawaii political history. She became the youngest person elected to the office at the age of 37, as well as the first woman. In 1994, Lingle easily won re-election.

Maui County, under the leadership of Mayor Lingle, implemented performance-based budgeting. Its successful passage and execution earned for Lingle the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association for four years. Mayor Lingle was also credited for attracting tourism and job growth to Maui County during a period when the state tourism industry was struggling.