Students suffer downside of lost Fridays

Some public high school students are noticing the negative effects of Furlough Fridays. “Everything is getting compacted and shortened. And the quality of our education is being lowered,” said Jessica Minick, chairwoman of the Hawaii State Student Council.

Hawaii State Student Council members met yesterday to discuss Furlough Fridays. Kelly Maeshiro, Board of Education student representative from Pearl City; Mark Aoki, Honolulu district representative from
While thousands of students spent the Veterans Day holiday outdoors enjoying the balmy weather, 13 members of the Hawaii Student Council spent yesterday indoors, mulling over the issue.

In a conference room at the Department of Education’s Diamond Head offices, James Brese, chief financial officer of the DOE, held a presentation of the school systems’ “budget blues,” prompting questions from council members on what can be done to restore lost school days. The teachers’ contract calls for 17 Furlough Fridays in the current school year to save money on salaries. Everything is being jam-packed into a four-day week, said Minick, a senior at Hilo High School. “It’s not working. It’s not working at all.”

“They’re getting lazy on both sides: The students don’t want to do the work, and teachers don’t want to give out the work.”

—Jasmine Healy / Senior at Kapolei High who has noticed complacency around her school
In the past two weeks, Mark Aoki, a junior at Roosevelt High School and Honolulu district representative for the student council, said he has seen the added stress on fellow students and his teachers rushing to cover all the standards.

Mark Dannog, a junior at Waianae High School, echoed Aoki’s comments. While teachers have time to prepare lessons, they have less time to teach it, said Dannog, Leeward district representative.

Students as well as teachers at Kapolei High School have become complacent, said Jasmine Healy, a senior at Kapolei High. She said she has noticed that students don’t care as much about their education and a lot of teachers are not assigning homework to make up for lost class time. “They’re getting lazy on both sides: The students don’t want to do the work, and teachers don’t want to give out the work,” said Healy, Leeward district representative. “Everybody is suffering overall.

“We need to be in the classroom as much as possible,” she said, adding that she fears that students will forget how important education is for their future. “Our education needs to be the best that it can be.”

Hawaii senators say Lingle has money to ease furloughs

State senators on a special legislative committee examining public teacher furloughs yesterday said they want to urge Gov. Linda Lingle to make use of $35 million in federal stimulus money that is entirely under her control.The money, they say, has yet to be spent and could cover the cost of some furlough days if given to the state Department of Education. The state saves about $5 million a day for each furlough Friday.

“A missing component at the table is the governor. Whether we agree or not, she has discretion over these funds. Hopefully all parties are willing to take a look at how we can quickly restore (furlough days),” said Sen. Jill Tokuda, a member of the state Senate’s Special Committee to consider furloughs.

Schools Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto told the senators that the DOE would be willing to renegotiate the furlough days as soon as money is available to put teachers back in the classroom.

While lawmakers and education officials appear to believe those federal stimulus dollars could be used to cover furloughs, Gov. Linda Lingle’s office said the money was already appropriated in the last legislative session and that some of it is being spent on education improvements required under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“We would have to undo spending that is already taking place,” said Linda Smith, Lingle’s senior policy adviser.

Smith was not specific about where the money was being spent.

James Brese, chief financial officer for the DOE, said Smith is incorrect. He said the DOE has not had access to any of the money.

“The Legislature put it in to our federal government funding ceilings, but it’s something the governor has yet to allocate to us,” Brese said. “Right now it’s totally at her discretion.”

The BOE, teachers and Lingle agreed in September to a new contract that included 17 furlough days, equivalent to a 7.9 percent pay cut. The furlough days are all scheduled for Fridays — Nov. 20 is the fourth of the 17 scheduled furlough days — and have reduced the number of instructional days to 163, the lowest in the nation.

The furlough days were part of the DOE’s plan to address some $227 million in cuts mandated by Lingle and lawmakers. Those cuts include about $127 million cut by Lingle in a 14 percent budget restriction equivalent to three furlough days a month.
other options

Lawmakers also appear to believe that the money is available, and several senators yesterday said they wanted the governor to use the money to restore some of the furlough days.

Sen. Will Espero, D-20th (‘Ewa Beach, Waipahu), vice chairman of the committee, said lawmakers do not have the authority to tell the governor how to spend the $35 million, also known as the “government services,” or Part B of the federal State Fiscal Stabilization Fund.

Espero requested that the DOE and the state Board of Education send letters to the governor to urge her to use the money to reduce the furlough days.

There are other options available to lawmakers, including using the Hurricane Relief Fund or increasing the excise tax.

“The possibility of a special session still exists,” Espero said, adding that so far there is no agreement among lawmakers on how to restore days to the school calendar. “We need to do some serious discussion , meetings, and see if we’ll be able to salvage this school year.”

Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai’i Kai), faulted Hamamoto and state Board of Education Chairman Garrett Toguchi over the decision to furlough teachers in the first place.

“It appears to me that the DOE is attempting to have us come back into session — by putting pressure on us by keeping the kids out of school — to raise taxes,” Hemmings said.

Prior to the governor’s 14 percent budget cut of $127 million to public education, lawmakers had appropriated $104 million in federal stimulus funds, known as Part A of the federal State Fiscal Stabilization Funds. That money was set aside to plug budgetary holes created during the legislative session, education officials said.

“I’d like to clarify that neither the board, nor the department cut the funds that created this furlough issue. It was the restriction imposed by the governor,” Toguchi said. “Prior to the restriction, we were whole.”

Judge upholds Furlough Friday while attorney appeal for the sake of children’s rights to stay in school

A federal court judge on Monday ruled against an injunction to halt furloughs at Hawaii public school.

Since the Friday furloughs began on Oct. 23, lawyers for learning disabled students said even missing Fridays is a big set back, especially for autistic children.

“They’re biting kids, they’re hitting other kids, they’re hitting teachers and para-professionals and autism consultants. So, it’s dramatic, the effect of the furloughs is not just and inconvenience,” attorney Susan Dorsey said.

The attorneys asked a federal judge to temporarily halt more furloughs, claiming that cutting school days without allowing special education students a hearing first violates federal law.

Judge A. William Tashima, of California, sided with the attorney general.

“There is no easy choice here,” Tashima asked. “What’s the least bad of all the choices.”

Lawyers representing special education and mainstream students had claimed their rights were violated when the schools imposed at least 17 furlough days this school year.

The judge ruled that the students were not likely to prevail in their lawsuit, so he denied a preliminary injunction, which would have stopped the furloughs.

“We want the schools open and we want kids to be well cared for, and now I’m hoping that this will spur actions as we know it already has in other quarters to resolve the situation,” attorney Eric Seitz said.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judge said he was worried that if he approved an injunction, the result would cause many teachers to lose their jobs and class sizes to increase to 50 students per class.

“The Department of Education acted legally. We are faced with an unprecedented budget crisis. They did not violate the law,” Hawaii Attorney General Mark Bennett said.

Attorneys representing the students said they plan to appeal Tashima’s ruling.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed. We would like to see all avenues of pressure put on the state to open the schools, and I think the public has made that very clear,” Seitz said.

The judge urged both sides to continue to negotiate some kind of an end to the furloughs.

“We’re continuing to discuss the different ways that we could possibly look at restoring schools, of which dollars always help,” Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto said.

“We have to take a long, hard look at this plan to leave Hawaii’s children behind, in the 20th century and maybe even further back. We’re not going to be competing with the rest of the world if we do that,” attorney Carl Varady said.

Public schools are open this Friday, but are scheduled to be closed next week for furloughs.

The state said it is arranging for extra help for learning disabled kids to make up for the time they’ve lost on Fridays. They are bringing in therapists and specialists even on weekends, but parents said their disabled children need routine school time to keep them on track.

Earlier in the day, Tashima ruled on an issue brought up by the plaintiffs’ attorneys.

Seitz accused the attorney general’s office of improperly allowing school principals and teachers to discuss furlough issues with special education students who are part of the lawsuit and filed declarations on what they’ve found from his clients.

“The attorney general and the representatives of the Department of Education have been out and around, talking to kids without our knowledge, and without the knowledge and permission of their parents,” Seitz said. “Kids who we represent, and that’s just not something that any ethical lawyer would ever do.”

The attorney general’s office denied any unethical conduct.

Tashima dismissed the accusation.

“Do you want an order for no teacher to talk to a student?” Tashima said.

Seitz said the state claimed there have been no problems caused by the teacher furloughs. According to Seitz, that is “just unfathomable.”

“There’s no question. When kids are not in school, some damage is being done. When special ed kids are not in school, it could be irreparable harm,” he said.

U.S. District Judge David Ezra recused himself from deciding the furlough lawsuits after being appointed the special master to try to mediate an out-of-court settlement on the cases.

Gov. Linda Lingle and legislative leaders have been searching for other solutions to the furloughs, including pay cuts.

“Well, certainly a 5 percent pay cut is preferable to taking off so many school days,” Lingle said.

But even with straight 5 percent pay cuts, money would have to be found elsewhere to make up the state’s nearly $1 billion budget deficit.

Charges fly in furlough lawsuits Federal court hearing to address special education classes

Twin lawsuits filed by parents seeking to halt Hawaii’s teacher furloughs face a pivotal federal court hearing after settlement negotiations foundered.The run-up to tomorrow’s hearing was also marked by an exchange of criticism by principals in the case — attorney Eric Seitz, one of the lawyers representing parents, and Attorney General Mark Bennett.

Seitz said tomorrow’s hearing could be raucous.

He charged that the attorney general’s office engaged in serious unethical conduct by allowing school principals and teachers to discuss furlough-related issues with parents who are part of the lawsuits outside of the presence of attorneys.

Bennett on Friday denied there was any unethical conduct. He said teachers and administrators are trying to arrange instruction for special education students as best they can, given the furloughs. To do that, they must communicate with students and their parents, he added.

The school officials discussed the schooling of their children and problems they may have encountered because of furloughs, Seitz said. The discussions were summarized in several declarations filed with the court by Bennett’s staff on Thursday.

More than a dozen declarations were filed in both cases by principals and other school employees. Many of them assert that meetings were held with parents of specific special education students, and that the students appeared to be adjusting well to the teacher furlough days.

“Teachers reported no changes in K.S.’s behavior following the furlough days,” principal Ellamarie Savidge wrote in a declaration, referring to a plaintiff who has been identified in court papers only by his initials.

Schools Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto stated in another declaration that the Department of Education is making every effort to reschedule instructional services.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The agency was closed Friday, the third teacher furlough day so far.

But Bennett, in a statement sent to The Advertiser yesterday, said: “The allegations that school teachers or administrators or attorneys from the department of the attorney general have acted in any way improperly or unethically are totally without merit.

“Teachers and administrators are doing their best to make certain that special education students are provided the services promised in their individual education plans and are affected as little as possible by furloughs.

“We have provided evidence of this to the federal court. The apparent argument by attorney Eric Seitz that teachers can’t talk to students or parents to help provide services to students makes no sense.

“We also believe Mr. Seitz’s allegations of a conflict of interest are similarly without merit.

“We will respond to these allegations with a written filing in court.”

Last week, U.S. District Judge David Ezra held settlement talks with state lawyers. Seitz, who filed one of the lawsuits on behalf of all public school students and their parents, and Carl Varady, who represents eight special education students and their parents, said Ezra told them Thursday that no out-of-court resolution was forthcoming.

Ezra is acting as a special master overseeing the settlement talks.

Varady said he and Seitz will tomorrow seek a preliminary injunction halting further teacher furloughs until a trial can be held.

The hearing will be presided over by Wallace Tashima, a senior judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

95 Hawaii schools given approval to increase instructional time Move restores as many as six teaching days lost to furloughs

The state Board of Education last night approved 95 schools’ requests to convert teacher training days into instructional days, an action that restores as many as six classroom days that would have been lost because of staff furloughs.Dozens of other schools are expected to request similar exemptions by the extended deadline of Nov. 13, officials said at last night’s board meeting. So far, several schools have submitted their requests and many more have said that they plan to do so, officials said.

The BOE will meet again Dec. 3 to take up the next batch of exemptions requested by schools.

“We still have 156 schools that have not submitted anything yet,” said Jill Zodrow, the Department of Education’s education specialist for school community councils. “We’re unsure at this time what it’s going to look like.”

An additional five schools submitted requests to change their bell schedule, which would restore instructional minutes for classes interrupted on furlough days. They were Kapolei Middle, Mililani Middle, Niu Valley Middle, Pearl City High and Waikoloa High & Middle.

“The overall purpose of all this is to regain and recoup as much instructional time,”Zodrow said.

Board of Education Chairman Garrett Toguchi said many schools have already used some of their waiver or planning days. Only a few schools asked for exemptions to convert all six planning days to classroom days, he said.

“The majority were anywhere from two to six days,” Toguchi said. “It’s pretty obvious that we are all in favor of helping schools restore this instructional time,” he added.

The BOE, teachers and Gov. Linda Lingle agreed in September to a new contract that included 17 furlough days, equal to a 7.9 percent pay cut. The furlough days are all scheduled for Fridays — today is the third of the 17 scheduled furlough days — and have reduced the number of instructional days to 163, the lowest in the nation.
Keeping class open

Individual schools can boost their instructional days by opting to teach kids on teacher planning days. These requests do not eliminate “furlough Fridays,” officials say. Instead, it keeps kids in class on days when schools had previously scheduled teacher workdays or professional development workshops for staff.

Schools receive a total of six waiver and professional development days a year — two “waiver” days and four “planning and collaboration” days, according to the Hawaii State Teachers Association contract.

But, after the decision to furlough public school teachers, principals and teachers expressed interest in using those days to teach their students.

Requests to cancel waiver days or planning days must go before a campus’ School Community Council and requires a consensus of teachers or a two-thirds vote, according to the HSTA contract.

If endorsed at the school level, the request then goes before a four-member panel of the BOE and the Hawaii State Teachers Association and then the full board for final approval.

Kailua HighSchool was among the 95 schools that had submitted a request. The school received an exemption from two planning and collaboration days. The school had already taken two other planning days at the beginning of the school year, Kailua Principal Francine Honda said.

“The two remaining (waiver days) are the last two days of the school year. We don’t see it as having an impact,” Honda said.

So far, conversion of waiver and professional development days to instructional days has been the only option available to schools to add school days back to their pared-down calendar.

Meanwhile, the state House majority met in caucus yesterday to discuss options to eliminate some of the furlough Fridays. Rep. Roy Takumi, chairman of the House Education Committee, said there was no consensus to convene a special session of the state Legislature.

“People were not sure what was the game plan,” he said. “Until that’s clear, and it’s not, we aren’t in a position to walk into a special session.”

Takumi said the governor, the superintendent of schools, the school board and the union need to meet at the bargaining table and reopen the contract.

Even if the Legislature were find a solution in special session, the furlough days would still exist unless those parties reopened the contract, he said.

Let’s find a better answer to furloughs

Consider:

• After the union, the DOE and the governor agreed to a plan for a series of instructional furlough days, no less than the U.S. Department of Education, in the person of Secretary Arne Duncan, came raining down on Hawaii saying there must be a better way.

• Nearly 100 schools have already asked for waivers to turn training days and other non-classroom time into instructional days, thus lessening the number of teaching days that children will have to stay home.

• At least one school, Liholiho Elementary in Kaimukí, has come up with a parent-driven program for “furlough Fridays” that offers a full day of crafts and other learning activities in place of the regular school day. There will be more.

To accomplish this, the parents and other supporters of the school had to thread their way through a maze of bureaucratic restrictions. They could not simply offer the same curriculum the teachers would have offered had they been formally on the scene. They had to worry about insurance, liability requirements and even the constrictions of the state ethics law.

That’s a lot to ask of volunteers. And it is all stuff that is already handled by the regular system in the ordinary course of business. Would it not be easier simply to find a way to take the system already in place and make it work the way it is supposed to work?

Everyone agrees the state is short of money. And surely, the school system — along with everyone else — must take its share of the pain. But it is becoming increasingly clear that no one wants, or will accept, the solution provided by the people currently in charge.

This is the time for all interested parties, including the governor, the teachers’ union, the Department of Education and the most affected — the parents — to convene and forge a more responsible solution to the mess that has been created. What we have now is an ad hoc response to an intolerable solution.

Imagine if all the parties threw aside their personal differences and individual political agendas and simply sat down in the spirit of working this out in a reasonable manner. There are bright people out there and creative solutions. Without bending too far in the direction of union rules, state laws governing work rights and so forth, surely a solution can be found.

After all, when push comes to shove, the schools are not there for the grownups. They are there for the kids. Let’s keep that in mind.

Tackle schools’ unique hurdles

Embattled by Furlough Friday furor, a jab by the federal education secretary and national humiliation, Hawaii’s school system must find a way to rebound. More important, it should devise a method of keeping up with other schools across the country in the years ahead despite circumstances that will remain uniquely difficult.Much of the problem with Hawaii’s schools derives from the fact that it is the only statewide system and derives its revenue from the state income and excise taxes. Elsewhere in the country, schools are run by counties with revenue primarily from county property taxes, with help from the states.

One consequence of that difference is that the Hawaii State Teachers Association lines up with other public employee unions in adversarial labor negotiations with the state. Another is that important aspects of school policies emanate from labor contracts.

For example, labor contracts in Hawaii determine the number of school days in a year and instructional minutes. In other states, the number of instructional hours per year or minimum school days and hours per day are set by law or regulation. Clearly, those decisions should be made as public policy rather than terms of a union contract.

Before the furloughs, Hawaii’s high school instructional time per year totaled 771 hours. Only four states — California, Arizona, New Jersey and Utah — had fewer — 720 hours. With the furloughs, Hawaii’s total could fall into last place alone.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said that instructional time in public schools should increase, and he scolded Hawaii for its “step in the wrong direction.” The right direction is demonstrated by the Boston-based National Center on Time & Learning, which has engaged in a pilot program that resulted in an addition of 300 hours to the curricula of 26 schools in Massachusetts.

In a case study, the center explained how it added to the curricula of two K-8 schools in Cambridge while staying within the limit of $1,300 a year per pupil in additional state funding.

“Part of the challenge the teachers union and the district face was the desire to negotiate an agreement that compensated teachers fairly while also allowing for the staffing flexibility needed to implement the schools’ redesign plans faithfully,” the center observed. “This meant that teachers needed to have the option to work expanded hours and, at the same time, volunteers, partners and others may be needed to staff some programs.”

The goal is enhanced by neighborhood involvement that has become natural at local school districts across the country. Having rejected Gov. Linda Lingle’s attempt to create local districts, the state should find other methods to improve Hawaii’s schools by bringing community goals to the forefront.

Interview with Sen David Ige about Furlough Fridays

Q: Can you give us your thoughts with regard to the current DOE Furlough Friday situation?

A: “I’m personally frustrated and think we can do better. I think it’s really sad to me that we are sacrificing the children of Hawaii to deal with the budget crisis. I really think that there are sources of money that we should get access to.”

Q: Where would the money come from?

A: “There’s 180 million dollars in the Hurricane Fund that we can figure out some way to make available to solve this problem. And remember, Congress has authorized more than 100 million dollars of stimulus funds and they’ve been designated for Education even though the Governor has the flexibility to spend it anyway she wants to. So there’s 280 million dollars right there that I cannot understand why we can’t apply.”

Q: 100 million dollars from Congress for Hawaii Educational needs?

A: “Explicitly for Hawaii, Congress had designated it for Education but again the Governor has the flexibility to spend it anyway she wants to.”

Q: In your opinion, why hasn’t the Governor released the funds?

A: “I’m not certain. I don’t really understand. The Congress authorized the funds available in March so she’s had access to that money for at least four months. I understand that there are conditions to accepting the money and I don’t fully know what all those are but clearly, if I was Governor, I would apply it to deal with this furlough issue.”

Q: How far would the 280 million go to fix the DOE furloughs?

A: “My understanding is every furlough day costs 5 million dollars for teachers and custodians and cafeteria workers, everybody involved with the school. So, 17 furlough days is 85 million. Two years, 42 furlough days is about 200 million.”

Q: What happens after the money is exhausted, looking towards the years ahead?

A: “So really, those two pots of money should be able to take care of the furlough days for two years. So this year and next year and my hope is that we can do enough in the economy to try and deal with it.”

Q: Are there any other Federal funds that may be available for the state?

A: “There are additional Federal stimulus monies that I think we should go after and part of that is within the Department of Education. President Obama has a real aggressive program for funds and I think it’s the first time in a long time that there is actually more money in the U.S. Department of Education’s budget that I think we should pursue.”

Q: How can the people, working with our elected officials, turn this situation around?

A: “I think by the community pulling together and maybe putting together a SWAT team to really think about what it is that the President wants to see. How can we organize it and pursue it?”

Chaminade holding high school workshops on ‘furlough Fridays’

In response to Hawaii’s public school furloughs, Chaminade University announced today that it will hold three free half-day events for high school students on Nov. 6, Dec. 4 and Dec. 11 on its Waialae campus. Each of the scheduled Fridays will include a biology workshop from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., lunch from 12 to 1 p.m., and an optional campus tour following lunchPresented by Chaminade University’s biology department and sponsored by Chaminade University’s office of admissions, the program is aimed at high school students interested in a science, pre-health or nursing major in college. It is geared for students interested in college, giving them the opportunity to have an academically focused morning, sample an introductory-level college course and get an overview of basic techniques for DNA and bacterial cultures.

Workshops will be held in Chaminade University’s newly renovated science labs. Students may attend one, two or all three events. Juniors and seniors are especially welcome. Everything is free. Because space is limited, those interested should contact Chaminade Admissions as soon as possible at admissions@chaminade.edu or 739-8340. Visit www.chaminade.edu for more information.

Workshop topics scheduled are:

#   Nov. 6 – WEAR / WHERE ARE YOUR GENES: Students will learn about the history, role and importance of DNA. They will also extract their own DNA and take it home as a souvenir.

# Dec. 4—GERMS ON ME, PART 1: Students will learn introductory concepts in disease prevention and bacteriology. They will also conduct experiments by culturing their own bacteria.

# Dec. 11—GERMS ON ME, PART 2: This workshop will reinforce the concepts in disease prevention and bacteriology. The experiments will build upon the bacterial experiments performed the week prior. Students will examine bacteria grown in culture dishes and learn techniques to identify the type and possibly strains of bacteria. (Please note: this workshop is NOT limited to those students who participated in Germs on Me, Part 1.)

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.”