STATEMENT BY GOVERNOR LINDA LINGLE
“The proposal announced today by Hawai‘i Education Matters and Save our Schools unfortunately does not accomplish what most parents want – eliminate once and for all furlough Fridays in our schools and return children to the classroom.
“Under this proposal, students, parents, teachers, other school employees, Department of Education officials, legislators and the general public would still be left with the looming uncertainty of the remaining six furlough days in the second half of the next school year.
“Further, this plan once again pits education against other public services, as legislators struggle to find money in 2011 for the myriad of programs operated by the State.
“It is critical that we address the furlough situation with a comprehensive solution that involves parents, teachers, and taxpayers in the solution. The generous proposal I offered last month eliminates all remaining days when children are supposed to be in school but are shut out, while remaining within our budget constraints.
“I appreciate that parents have been working to develop constructive solutions to return children to the classroom. I encourage these parents to ask HSTA to re-open the negotiations.”
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