Is vaccinations the cause of some symptoms??

In the 1980’s there was the DTP,OPV,DTP,OPV,DTP,MMR,DTP,OPV,DTP,OPV.Autisim rate was 1:10,000
So it was mainly the DTP,OPV,and MMR….
Let’s look at the 1983 vaccination which was closer to my time(1981..Be more specific,September 9 1981-March 1982)
DTP: * Fever (up to about 1 child in 4)
* Redness or swelling where the shot was given (up to about 1 child in 4)
* Soreness or tenderness where the shot was given (up to about 1 child in 4)

These problems occur more often after the 4th and 5th doses of the DTaP series than after earlier doses.

Sometimes the 4th or 5th dose of DTaP vaccine is followed by swelling of the entire arm or leg in which the shot was given, for 1 to 7 days (up to about 1 child in 30).

Other mild problems include:

* Fussiness (up to about 1 child in 3)
* Tiredness or poor appetite (up to about 1 child in 10)
* Vomiting (up to about 1 child in 50)

These problems generally occur 1 to 3 days after the shot.

Moderate Problems (Uncommon)

*** Seizure (jerking or staring) (about 1 child out of 14,000)***Comment:Happened at about 3-4 months of age
*** Non-stop crying, for 3 hours or more (up to about 1 child out of 1,000)*** Comment:Mom said I could cry for hours at a time and they couldn’t get me to stop
* High fever, 105 degrees Fahrenheit or higher (about 1 child out of 16,000)

Severe Problems (Very Rare)
Serious allergic reaction (less than 1 out of a million doses) Several other severe problems have been reported after DTaP vaccine. These include:

*** Long-term seizures, coma, or lowered consciousness***Comment:Seizures since I was about 3-4 months old
* Permanent brain damage.

These are so rare it is hard to tell if they are caused by the vaccine.

Controlling fever is especially important for children who have had seizures, for any reason. It is also important if another family member has had seizures.

You can reduce fever and pain by giving your child an aspirin-free pain reliever when the shot is given, and for the next 24 hours, following the package instructions.
HPV:However, a vaccine, like any medicine, could possibly cause serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions. The risk of any vaccine causing serious harm, or death, is extremely small.

Several mild problems may occur with HPV vaccine:

* Pain at the injection site (about 8 people in 10)
* Redness or swelling at the injection site (about 1 person in 4)
* Mild fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit) (about 1 person in 10)
* Itching at the injection site (about 1 person in 30)
* Moderate fever (102 degrees Fahrenheit) (about 1 person in 65)

These symptoms do not last long and go away on their own.

Life-threatening allergic reactions from vaccines are very rare. If they do occur, it would be within a few minutes to a few hours after the vaccination.

Like all vaccines, HPV vaccine will continue to be monitored for unusual or severe problems.
MMR:A vaccine, like any medicine, is capable of causing serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions. The risk of MMR vaccine causing serious harm, or death, is extremely small.

Getting MMR vaccine is much safer than getting any of these three diseases.

Most people who get MMR vaccine do not have any problems with it.

Mild Problems

* Fever (up to 1 person out of 6)
* Mild rash (about 1 person out of 20)
* Swelling of glands in the cheeks or neck (rare)
If these problems occur, it is usually within 7-12 days after the shot. They occur less often after the second dose.

Moderate Problems

*** Seizure (jerking or staring) caused by fever (about 1 out of 3,000 doses)***Commet:Had seizures since I was 3-4 months old
* Temporary pain and stiffness in the joints, mostly in teenage or adult women (up to 1 out of 4)
* Temporary low platelet count, which can cause a bleeding disorder (about 1 out of 30,000 doses)

Severe Problems (Very Rare)

* Serious allergic reaction (less than 1 out of a million doses)
* Several other severe problems have been known to occur after a child gets MMR vaccine. But this happens so rarely, experts cannot be sure whether they are caused by the vaccine or not. These include:
o Deafness
***o Long-term seizures***, coma, or lowered consciousness
o Permanent brain damage

Note: The first dose of MMRV vaccine has been associated with rash and higher rates of fever than MMR and varicella vaccines given separately. Rash has been reported in about 1 person in 20 and feverin about 1 person in 5. Seizures caused by a fever are also reported more often after MMRV. These usually occur 5-12 days after the first dose.
(Others INfluenza:A vaccine, like any medicine, could possibly cause serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions. The risk of a vaccine causing serious harm, or death, is extremely small.

Serious problems from influenza vaccine are very rare. The viruses in inactivated influenza vaccine have been killed, so you cannot get influenza from the vaccine.

Mild problems:

* soreness, redness, or swelling where the shot was given
* hoarseness, sore or red eyes, cough, itchiness
* fever
* aches

If these problems occur, they usually begin soon after the shot and last 1 to 2 days.

Severe problems:

* Life-threatening allergic reactions from vaccines are very rare. If they do occur, it is usually within a few minutes to a few hours after the shot.
* In 1976, a certain type of influenza (swine flu) vaccine was associated with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). Since then, flu vaccines have not been clearly linked to GBS. However, if there is a risk of GBS from current flu vaccines, it would be no more than 1 or 2 cases per million people vaccinated. This is much lower than the risk of severe influenza, which can be prevented by vaccination
-Chickenpox Vaccine:A vaccine, like any medicine, is capable of causing serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions. The risk of chickenpox vaccine causing serious harm, or death, is extremely small.

Getting chickenpox vaccine is much safer than getting chickenpox disease. Most people who get chickenpox vaccine do not have any problems with it. Reactions are usually more likely after the first dose than after the second.

Mild Problems

* Soreness or swelling where the shot was given (about 1 out of 5 children and up to 1 out of 3 adolescents and adults)
* Fever (1 person out of 10, or less)
* Mild rash, up to a month after vaccination (1 person out of 25). It is possible for these people to infect other members of their household, but this is extremely rare.

Note: The first dose of MMRV vaccine has been associated with rash and higher rates of fever than MMR and varicella vaccines given separately. Rash has been reported in about 1 person in 20 and fever in about 1 person in 5. Seizures caused by a fever are also reported more often after MMRV. These usually occur 5-12 days after the first dose.

Moderate Problems

* Seizure (jerking or staring) caused by fever (very rare).

Severe Problems

* Pneumonia (very rare)
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Note:I am not going to list everything but majority of it.Also the ones I experienced as side effects are starred-DTaP(Diphtheria,Tetanus,TOxiodes,and Acelluar
Pertussis)Vaccine:Side Effects:Autism,fever,anorexia,vomiting,pneumonia,meningitis,sepsis,pertusis,**convulsions***,ferbile,***grandma***l,aferbile and ***partial seizures***,encephalopathy,brachial neurits,Guillain-Barre Syndrome,SIDS
DTaP/HepB/IPV Combination Vaccine,Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Acelluar Pertussis Adsorbed,Hepatitis B(Recombinant) and Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine Combined:Side effects:***Seizures***,diabetes mellitus,asthma,SIDS,upper respiratory tract infections,abnormal liver function tests,anorexia,jaundice,shock,encephalopathy,stevens-johnson syndrome,brachial neuritis
Flu Vaccine or Influenza Virus Vaccine:Side effects:Significant respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms,***seizure***,allergic asthma,decreased appetite,increased mitochondrial enecephalomyopathy,partial facial paralysis,guillain-barre syndrome,bell’s palsy,stevens-johnson syndrome,herpes zoster
HepB Vaccine:Side effects:Influenza,ferbile seizure,anorexia,upper respiratory tract illnesses,herpes zoster,encephalitis,palpitations,arthritis,systemic lupus erthematosus,conjunctivitis,guillan-barre syndrome,bell’s palsy,multiple sclerosis,anaphylaxsis,***seizures***
HIB Vaccine or Haemophilus b Conjuate Vaccine(Tetanus Toxoid Conjuate):Side effects:Anorexia,seizures,renal failure,guillan-barre syndrome,diarrhea,vomiting
HIB/HepB Vaccine or Haemophilus b Conjuate(Meningococcal Protein Conjuate) and HepB:Side effects:anorexia,seizures,ear infections,upper respiratory infection,oral candudasus(yeast infection),anaphylaxis
HIB/Meningococcal{Haemophilus b Conjuate Vaccine(Meningoccoal Protein Conjuate)Side effects:Ferbile seizures,early onset HIB disease,ear infections,upper respiratory infections,guillan-barre syndrome
MMR Vaccine or Measles Mumps Ruebella Virus Vaccine:Side effects:atypical measles,arthritis,encephalitis,death,aspetic meningitis,nerve deafness,***ear infections***
Pneumoccoal or Pnuemoccoal 7-valent Conjuate Vaccine (Diptheria CRM197 Protein):Side effects:ferbile seizures,SIDS,anaohylactod reaction including shock,decreased appetite
Poliovirus Vaccine(IPV) or Poliovirus Vaccine Inactivated:Side effects;death,anorexia,guillan-barre syndrome
Chicken Pox(Varicella)Virus Vaccine:Side effects:ferbile seizures,encephalitis,varicella-like rash,upper respiratory illnesses,lower respiratory illness,eczema,enecephalitis,facial edema,cold/canker sores,aseptic meningitis,guillan-barre syndrome,bell’s palsy,pneumonia,secondary bacterial infections

Healing & Preventing Autism is a must read by Jenny McCarthy for anyone.I read it because Jenny always has a way of making autism sound interesting.It’s real and dead honest facts yet she conversates it like a story.It also helped me to understand why I may or might have been the way I am today.It could be from the genes or it could’ve been that I was one of the unlucky ones by vaccinations even in my days.

Time to clean up the school furlough mess Solutions could include tapping hurricane fund, modest GET increase

One day I came across Karley, my granddaughter, sitting in the middle of a mess in the living room. When asked “Who did this?” she said, “Isaiah,” her oldest brother and favorite target when needing someone to blame. It’s not surprising she wouldn’t fess up; after all, she’s only 2 years old.What’s surprising is how we got into this mess of achieving the dubious distinction of having the fewest classroom days in the country. After all, adults, not children, made this mess.

Oh, I’ve heard all the arguments. Some say, “It’s only fair that we all have to share the pain.” But by insisting that everyone has to be furloughed the same number of days may be fair to the adults, it certainly isn’t right for our children.

Others say, “It came down to a dollars-and-cents issue.” But to save a few cents we have abandoned our common sense. Furloughs shortchange our children’s future and represent a collective failure by all of us — including me. It raises disturbing questions about what we value and what we believe is important.

I don’t want to sugarcoat our situation. The budget deficit is real, but we are not alone. Forty-seven other states are facing budget gaps totaling at least $350 billion over the next two years. Yet states such as Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Oregon have bigger deficits than we do but did not enact furloughs to the degree that we did.

I’m not interested in pointing fingers. I am far more interested in where we go from here. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s suggestion that all the stakeholders work it out is a critical first step (The Honolulu Advertiser, Oct. 25).

But it won’t go anywhere unless there is a willingness to reopen the negotiations. The governor needs to take the lead on this.

Once this happens, then the greater community — parents, students, unions, businesses, non-profits, legislators, congressional delegation, BOE, DOE — needs to reach a consensus on how to get our students back into the classroom. Every option — drawing down of special funds, seeking federal assistance, targeted tax increases, wage cuts, exchanging noninstructional days and holidays, rearranging the school calendar — needs to be on the table.

Let me put it in practical terms.: If teachers were willing to accept a combination of a small wage cut (for example, a 1 percent cut would save two furlough days) and a few furlough days that fall on holidays, this would reduce the cut in classroom days by three or four. We could also require that every school exchange a certain number of noninstructional days. As it stands, less than a third of the schools have requested this. If the governor is open (along with the Legislature) to using a portion of the Hurricane Relief Fund or consider a slight temporary increase in the GET, a few more days would be saved.

No one has the silver-bullet solution, but I believe we can reach a consensus that is based solely on what is in the best interests of our children.

Still, this is only a short-term approach. We also need to seriously debate longer-term strategies for moving to a more efficient, effective and focused system. This means closing low-performing schools, consolidating schools that no longer serve communities due to shrinking enrollments, funding universal pre-school, and increasing alternatives for learning such as on-line instruction and charter schools.

We also need to closely scrutinize every government service that is currently provided and make the hard decisions on which services are less critical and which are necessary. We should not let the governor simply lay off employees without public input.

That day when Karley couldn’t quite take responsibility for what she did was what educators call a teachable moment. It was a moment when I as an adult had to explain to her that when you make a mess, you are responsible for cleaning it up.

This is also a teachable moment for us adults. We made a mess. We are responsible for cleaning it up.

Let’s get to work.

Judge Ezra to handle settlement talks on furloughs, removes self from cases

There are fast-moving developments today in the federal court challenges to the furloughs of state school personnel.U.S. District Judge David Ezra, who was handling the two lawsuits challenging the school furloughs, has taken himself off the cases so he can handle settlement talks with the parties involved.

No settlement is imminent, but Ezra has already spoken today with lawyers representing the state and parents of children affected by the furloughs and more talks are scheduled Monday, one of the private lawyers involved, Carl Varady, confirmed this afternoon.

“Over the course of the past few days, the court has participated in meetings with the parties in an effort to facilitate discussions on the issues raised,” Ezra said in a recusal order filed this afternoon.

Ezra said in the order that he “believes recusal is a prudent action here because it would be improper for the court to both work on amicable out-of-court resolution and rule on the merits of the case.”

Attorney General Mark Bennett, who represents the Department of Education in the furlough litigation, declined comment this afternoon on the settlement discussions with Ezra.

A court hearing on the legal challenges scheduled to be held Tuesday before Ezra has been canceled and a new judge, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Wallace Tashima, has been named to take over the cases for the court.

Judge Ezra now assigned to mediate Furlough Friday lawsuits

U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra will not hear the lawsuits filed to stop Furlough Fridays in the public schools.Instead, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Wallace Tashima assigned Ezra as a special master to help resolve the case outside of court, according to a news release from attorneys Carl Varady, Susan Dorsey and Stan Levin, who have filed a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of disabled children seeking to stop the furloughs.

Tashima, a Clinton appointee to the appeals court, will decide the preliminary injunction motions as a visiting judge. That hearing, which had been scheduled for next Tuesday, will now be held on Nov. 9.

All other federal judges in Hawaii had a connection with the public schools and had recused themselves from hearing the case.

“Appointing a special master to try to resolve cases or difficult issues like the issues in this case is a routine practice designed to help the settlement process move forward,” Varady said in the news release. “Having a highly experienced judge who knows the issues and has dealt with these difficult questions in detail for two decades will be of great benefit to the parties and the possibility of settlement. It may lead to a cooling off period, too, where the parties may be able to explore solutions the court cannot impose under with the special master’s assistance and guidance.”

Hearing to study furlough options

On the second of 17 “furlough Fridays” today for public schools, scores of parents are expected to attend a legislative hearing meant to look at options for ending the controversial cost-saving plan that shuts down schools, as more campuses are seeking to convert staff planning days to make up lost classroom time.Meanwhile, a federal court hearing on a challenge to the furloughs has been moved up to Tuesday. State Department of Education officials would not say whether they are preparing in the event that the furlough plan is overturned and schools are open next Friday.

But the DOE did warn this week that if the furloughs are thrown out, then thousands of employees would have to be laid off to satisfy the department’s budget restrictions.

The furlough Friday plan kicked off last week, and drove more than 800 parents and students to the state Capitol to protest what many saw as a new low for Hawaii’s public education system. Today, there are no similar big rallies planned, though the hearing is expected to attract a large number of furlough opponents.

A small protest is also planned at Kahala Elementary School, where parents, teachers and kids will stage a “walk-in” to demand that their school be opened. A similar event was held at Noelani Elementary School in Manoa last Friday.
‘wave of support’

Jo Curran, who helped organize the rally last week, was working hard yesterday to get people to the legislative hearing today. “We’re e-mailing our growing base to ask them to give testimony,” said Curran, the mother of a child at Kahala Elementary School. She added that her group, Hawaii Education Matters, is getting more and more support “from ordinary moms and dads to politicians.”

“We’re getting a tremendous wave of support,”she said.

Curran said her group is looking for a compromise.

And she said part of the solution could be converting planning days to instructional ones. The DOE is getting a “steady stream” of applications from schools asking to convert planning days or to increase instructional time on days when school would have ended early, spokeswoman Sandy Goya said yesterday.

As of last Thursday, 80 schools had applied.
extended deadline

Goya did not immediately have a new count yesterday. The deadline for applications was extended to Nov. 13, but it’s unclear how long processing could take. The requests must be approved by a school’s School Community Council and a two-thirds vote of teachers, before going to a four-member panel of the Board of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association, and the full school board.

Parents are watching the process, while also keeping tabs on a federal court hearing Tuesday that could block the furloughs if U.S. District Judge David Ezra rules in favor of a challenge filed on behalf of special education students.

The legislative hearing today was put on the calendar after the formation of a special committee earlier this week to study options to restore classroom instruction time. State. Sen. Will Espero, who is on the seven-member committee, said the hearing is to look “for a short-term plan to save this current school year.”

“If we don’t act we will become the lowest in the nation in terms of instructional days,” said Espero, D-20th (Ewa Beach, Waipahu). “That is not a label I want. All of us must say that this loss of instructional days is unacceptable.”
day care options

Child care providers say the uncertainty over the future of furloughs is leaving many parents unsure on whether to put their kids in day care. Last Friday, hundreds of parents and kids flocked to malls, parks and beaches, while attendance at day care programs set up for the furlough Fridays was smaller than expected.

Two of the largest day care programs being offered statewide say they’re expecting slight increases in attendance today. Kamaaina Kids, which is operating 20 sites statewide, has about 440 kids signed up — 40 more than last week.

The YMCA expects to get 251 kids at its 10 sites today, up from about 226.

Parents, keiki protest on second ‘Furlough Friday’

More than 50 people, including many elementary schoolchildren, gathered at Kahala Elementary School this morning to protest “Furlough Friday II — the sequel.”For the second Friday in a row, public schools were closed for more than 170,000 public school students statewide.

Members of the Hawaii Government Employees Association and the Hawaii State Teachers Association had another day off without pay as part of new contracts designed to help the state overcome a projected $1 billion budget shortfall by June 30, 2011.

When the 8 a.m. bell rang at the school just a block from the Kahala Mall, parents carried furlough protest signs on the sidewalk fronting Kilauea Ave. A few motorists honked back in support.

Vernadette Gonzalez, an American Studies professor at the University of Hawaii, brought her two children — 16-month-old Noah and 5-year-old Inez Anderson — to the rally.

“This is a social tragedy,” said Gonzalez who participated at another rally last Friday at Noelani Elementary School, which Inez attends.

Yellow fliers were passed out urging people to attend a State Capitol hearing today to pressure the Legislature to convene a special session and consider other approaches instead of furlough days for teachers.

Emilia Cazin, who has twin daughters Margueritel and Adelaida attending Kahala, said she grew up in Poland when it was under communist rule.

“We had nothing to eat and people would stand in line for eight hours just to get a piece of bread,” Cazin added, “but the schools were open.”

Because of the furlough days, Hawaii public schools will be closed for 17 days this academic year, and another 17 next year.

Kahala Elementary parents, students protest furlough Friday

The late bell rang this morning at Kahala Elementary School and not one of the 430 students cared on this second furlough Friday for Hawaii’s public schools.Their parents, however, stood out front in protest of the 17 furlough days approved by the teachers and Gov. Linda Lingle as a way to cover a projected state budget shortfall.

About 50 parents and students lined up along Kilauea Avenue today waving signs in protest of the furloughs. They planned to take their words of protest to the state Capitol at 12:30 p.m. and join other parents at a legislative hearing, said Allison Mikuni, Parent Teacher Organization president.

“It’s an important year for my daughter,” said Emilia Cazin, a parent of twin fifth- graders. “She has a stomach ache today because she is worried she won’t pass her SAT tests to get into private school.”

As motorists honked their horns in support of the parents, Robyn Johansson, a parent of two children at Kahala Elementary School, said children need to go to school five days a week.

“How can they compete with the rest of the nation?” Johansson asked. “There is no other state that sends their children to school four days a week. Education should have been the last thing the governor cut.”

Judge Ezra moves up Furlough Friday hearing date

A hearing on two lawsuits seeking to stop Furlough Fridays in Hawaii’s public schools has been moved up to Nov. 3 at 8:30 a.m. in U.S. District Court.

The original court date had been Nov. 5, which is the day before the third scheduled Furlough Friday. Asked why the date was changed, U.S. District Judge David Ezra’s staff said it was to accommodate the schedule of one of the attorneys, who had a conflict on Nov. 5.

One suit, N.D. et al vs. State of Hawaii, represents nine students with autism. The other, D.K. et al vs. Lingle et al, represents both regular and special education students.

Hawaii schools were closed last Friday and will be closed again today because of the unpaid furlough days for teachers. The state and union leaders agreed to 17 furlough days this academic year and 17 next year to help the state balance its budget.

Teachers can’t carry budget burden alone

Let’s recap the last year:

» A little over a year ago, the governor demanded all departments in the state submit projected budget cuts of 10, 15 and 20 percent.

» In December, the governor submits the executive budget which includes general fund reduction of $40 million each year and a decrease of 240 positions.

» In May the state Department of Education says it has cut $39 million from its budget due to declining revenues.

» In June, Gov. Linda Lingle threatens to impose three furloughs per month on all state employees including teachers.

“We don’t believe that this is negotiable,” Lingle said. “It is not within the contracts. It is something I have an implied right to do.”

» The Hawaii State Teachers Association, along with other unions, files suit to stop the furlough imposition.

» In July a judge throws out Lingle’s plan to furlough state workers. The judge’s oral ruling blasts the state for ordering furloughs without first attempting to negotiate the issue with the public worker unions.

» Lingle threatens layoffs if furloughs are not accepted.

» In September, after months of negotiations, HSTA agrees to the two furlough days a month, equal to 17 days a year, instead of the three a month the governor had wanted to impose.

» In October, the public outcry over the furloughs intensifies.

And now, the governor says she has no responsibility for the furloughs, it was the DOE, the Board of Education and the union. She expects us to believe that if she had appointment power over the superintendent, this would never have happened. The truth is, if the governor had appointed the superintendent, we would have had three furlough days a month months ago

As the state imposed more and more cuts on public education, who do you think picked up the slack for lost programs, staff reductions, cuts in materials, supplies, textbooks, etc.? The teachers.

The education of our children cannot rest solely on the shoulders of teachers, nor school staff. The community as a whole needs to pull together and demand our schools be funded.

Teachers’ work does not begin when the children enter the classroom. Lessons have to be planned and prepared, materials and supplies acquired and organized, and previous student work assessed and feedback provided. In the education world teachers live in now, collaboration with other professionals is essential to provide for students that require interventions, extra support or expanded lessons (depending on their needs). Parent conferences and student team meetings occur regularly.

Non-instructional days and Wednesday meeting times allow teachers a minimal amount of time to deal with the complexity of demands on them. The teachers’ contract provides for recognition of this work. However, it also provides for a method of allowing teachers at individual schools to apply for contract exceptions to allow some of the non-instructional days to be changed to instructional days, and individual schools are doing so. Again, teachers are carrying the burden.

So, yes, I am unapologetic that teachers accepted furloughs over pay cuts or layoffs. In my 30th year of teaching in Hawaii, I have learned that if teachers do not advocate for themselves, they will continue to be taken for granted and expected to take on more and more, and do it with less and less.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my work and am committed to provide each and every child with a great public education. I am just no longer so idealistic that I think I can do it alone. I know schools need the financial commitment of all our citizens.

I am encouraged to see the public outcry and hope our policy makers and elected officials get the message loud and clear. We will no longer shortchange our future by shortchanging our children’s education. Find the money to put teachers back in the classrooms.

Furlough opponents must consider all budget options

With Furlough Fridays a reality, efforts toward a long-term solution are overdue. The time that some are now devoting to finger-pointing and affixing blame are a distraction from the more important work we have before us. The real question is, as the economic torrent threatens to erode the foundation of public education, what can we do?Two meaningful efforts are under way. First, community partners have stepped up to reduce the burdens on students, families, and employers by creating optional activities for furlough days. I commend all of those who have acted to minimize the damage to the school house foundation.

Second, many people are asking if more resources are available to help strengthen our educational system. Legislators are hard at work creating proposals that shore up the threatened foundations. These proposals are being presented to the parties to the collective bargaining agreements: the governor, the state Board of Education, the Department of Education, the Hawaii State Teachers Association, the Hawaii Government Employees Association and the United Public Workers.

We know what started this: State revenues are down, making budget cuts a necessity. The DOE and the governor and her administration negotiated a contract with the HSTA, under which the teachers will take a number of furlough days to reduce personnel costs. The teachers and the DOE negotiated to take the furloughs on instructional days.

The reality is that if we want to eliminate furlough days, we must bridge the gap by finding more money for education.

A number of funding options have been laid before us, including targeted tax increases, drawing from various existing funds, and reducing costs in other areas. Each proposal has supporters and detractors, but the most important action the parties can take at this point is to demonstrate a willingness to consider everything.

The discussion should be as inclusive as possible, which means, at minimum, that it would include the administration, the DOE and the HSTA in coming up with a solution. While all of us would like to have a swift answer, most recognize that a quick solution that runs into rancor and roadblocks would only lead to further delays.

Our state must make a basic policy decision about core principles: Are we prepared to make an unwavering commitment to education as a fundamental priority for our state government? Are we willing to fund teacher salaries and keep them on the job, even if that means leaving other programs with less money than they need?

I would say unequivocally yes. As a community, there is no greater commitment than the one we make to our children. That should include making the investment necessary to deliver the education that will serve them for the rest of their lives.

We must commit to addressing the challenge that lies before us. We have seen that the community can work together to help Hawaii’s public school students. Businesses, community groups, government agencies and individuals have come together to provide child care options to parents and students facing the furlough days.

Our students, teachers, and community will gain nothing by re-hashing what brought us to this point. This is not the time for blame; it is the time for united action. It is not the time to score political points; it is the time for political will.

I am confident that there is an approach to funding that will address the varied concerns of our state government, the DOE, our teachers, parents and students. I am equally confident that with real leadership and a focus on what is best for our children, our community will find that solution.