furlough fridays

[12/5/09] Both the governor and an attorney who filed a lawsuit seeking to end Furlough Fridays are blaming the Hawaii State Teachers Association for blocking a deal that would restore lost public school days.

"The only obstacle at this point is the teachers union," attorney Eric Seitz said yesterday at a press conference. "The public needs to know and teachers need to know how badly the teachers union is acting in this matter."

Seitz said he plans to add the HSTA as a defendant in a class-action lawsuit seeking to end Furlough Fridays.

Meanwhile, Gov. Linda Lingle called on the union to continue bargaining next week or put her proposal to end the furloughs up for a vote.

HSTA President Wil Okabe countered that it is the Governor's Office that has dug in its heels.

"The governor and her team have shown no flexibility and have adopted a take-it-or-leave-it approach," Okabe said in an e-mail statement. "The HSTA has made viable offers to provide an interim solution, but they have all been summarily rejected by the governor."

Okabe said the governor's proposal would force schools to operate with a skeleton staff, without administrators, health aides, security and others.

"We will not return on furlough days if it means that the quality of instruction will (be) severely degraded or the health and safety of our students will be put at risk, all of which would be the case under the governor's proposal," Okabe said.

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[11/25/09] this week I have a letter from Abe, who wanted to make a point about teachers’ involvement in the current furlough fiasco.

“I am a teacher and when the union rep came to talk to us, she told us we could accept the offer, or we could go on strike. If we had gone on strike, we probably would have missed more than 17 days. We also faced the possibility that schools would just shut down because (Governor) Lingle had only released enough money to run the schools until December.

No teacher was presented with, “What do you want to do about it?” They told us this is the best offer we can get, if not we will go on strike, or the schools will just shut down, because the money has not been released to run them. The reason so many teachers ratified the contract is not because they were happy to do it, it’s because they felt it was the lesser of all evils.

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[11/16/09] Gov. Linda Lingle plans to eliminate 27 Furlough Fridays at Hawaii's public schools by tapping the so-called rainy day fund and switching teacher training days to class time.

She said yesterday her plan would restore stability among families and allow the state to focus on quality of education rather than the number of days students are in school.

Under Lingle's plan, furlough days would be restored starting Jan. 1 by using $50 million from the fund, formally the Emergency and Budget Reserve Fund, and converting noninstructional hours to instructional hours, totaling 15 school days. Noninstructional time includes Wednesday afternoons, when students are let out early to allow for staff meetings.

Parents, state legislators and the teachers union praised Lingle's plan, saying it is a step in the right direction.

"I'm glad that she came around and is making education a high priority," said Garrett Toguchi, chairman of the state Board of Education.

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[11/13/09] Education Secretary Arne Duncan says that because of the furloughs, Hawaii faces "a heck of a challenge" in qualifying for $20 million to $75 million in federal funds under the Obama administration's $4 billion "Race to the Top" grant program.

Duncan said he is "highly aware" of the actions taken by Hawaii to close public school classrooms 17 days this academic year and an equal amount next year because declining tax revenues have contributed to an estimated $1 billion shortfall in Hawaii's state budget.

He added that the actions of Gov. Linda Lingle, the Hawaii State Teachers Association and the state Board of Education mean eliminating 10 percent of island school days. He said, "To have Hawaii eliminate 10 percent of their day(s) is mind-boggling."

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[11/11/09] It is not the kind of publicity Hawaii wants, but the state's decision to shut public schools for 17 Furlough Fridays has made a big media splash.

"Hawaii's Children, Left Behind," declared the headline of a New York Times editorial. At the Washington Post, education columnist Jay Mathews wrote a piece with the scathing title "Idiocy in Paradise: Hawaii Handles School Budget Cuts Badly."

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[10/29/09] As a public school teacher I am unapologetic about the decision to accept furloughs over layoff or pay cuts. Let's recap the last year.

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[10/26/09] Misunderstanding persists about the Hawaii State Teachers Association contract with the state, which was recently ratified. This is apparent in quotes from several individuals appearing in Star-Bulletin articles, as well as in the letters to the editor. Some writers have seized upon misinformation to attack the HSTA, going so far as to state that HSTA negotiated a new contract with no pay cuts to teachers.

Several writers and even a former governor appear to think the DOE could have balanced its budget merely by cutting teacher salaries. This is simply wrong. It takes a lot more than the money for teacher salaries to run schools. It takes millions of dollars to keep the lights on and the computers and other electrical equipment running and campuses safe. It takes money to operate cafeterias and other services.

Teachers may run their classrooms, but custodians, administrators and a lot of staff are required to keep an entire school operating effectively and safely. These workers also need to be paid. The DOE cannot balance its budget by cutting teachers salaries 8 percent, while continuing to keep schools open the same number of days, with all of the other labor and operational costs that entails.

-- Wil Okabe is president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association

[10/25/09] Gov. Linda Lingle startled other leaders on Friday when she said she goofed by allowing the school teacher furloughs and then blamed the union and Department of Education for approving them.

"I assumed that they would do what was in the best interest of the students, and I don't think they did.

"Looking back, I think it would have been better to stand up and say, 'Well, we just can't settle it this way,'" Lingle said Friday as parents of hundreds of public school students rallied in the Capitol rotunda to protest furloughs.

Wil Okabe, Hawaii State Teachers Association president, yesterday shot back saying furloughs were Lingle's idea as was the 14 percent DOE budget cut that prompted them.

"Let's be honest. The governor got the furloughs ... she asked for. And now the community is angry, she wants to point the finger at others," Okabe said.

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The state's decision to save money by shutting down Hawaii's public schools for 17 Fridays this year has angered parents so much that they are planning to march on the Capitol next week, and some are considering lawsuits.

"When I first heard about the furloughs, we were all shocked and furious because this is going to have the largest impact on the students, and they, of course, are defenseless," said Debbie Schatz, who has a sixth-grader at Aikahi Elementary.

"So parents and community members, an amazing amount of them, are coming forward and voicing their opinions."

A new organization, Hawaii Education Matters, is planning a march at the Capitol from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 23, the first scheduled "Furlough Friday" for public schools. Its Web site is hosting a petition drive to "Stop Furlough Fridays." The petition is addressed to the governor, Legislature, Department of Education, school board and teachers union.

"None of us are political activists," said Jennifer Moy, volunteer coordinator for Hawaii Education Matters, formed three weeks ago in response to the furloughs. "We're pretty new at this. We just want a better education for our kids. Our goals are to have the class time restored and to give parents a voice in the debate."

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[10/19/09] Sandra Togashi is "angry and upset" and feeling the squeeze from all sides. She teaches social studies at Kawananakoa Middle School and has two children in public school.

"Furloughs personally affect my 143 students, my own children, my colleagues and me as a single parent," Togashi says.

So she is watching Hawaii's leaders closely for their response to Furlough Fridays, a budget-cutting plan that is shaping up as a political disaster.

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[9/23/09] Hawaii's public school year will have 17 fewer instructional days under a two-year contract ratified yesterday by the Hawaii State Teachers Association.

The reduction will result in a 7.94 percent pay cut for teachers, as the state attempts to ride out a slow economy and balance its public education budget.

The ratification came with criticism from union President Wil Okabe, who said last night the state should have maintained a commitment to the children and funded their education at appropriate levels with 180 days of instruction.

Okabe said the union is asking state legislators to do the right thing and restore the educational budget.