On the fifth furlough Friday, a group of parents gathered at the state Capitol yesterday to launch the 1,000 Student Voices about Furlough Fridays campaign, an art and literature program where students are encouraged to voice their views on furloughs.

The first phase of the 1,000 Student Voices program kicked off yesterday afternoon at The ARTS at Marks Garage in Chinatown, where students gathered to express their feelings about public education and furloughs. The works of art and literature will be presented to lawmakers and the governor when the state Legislature opens in mid-January.

Yesterday, only a handful of parents and students were at the Capitol to protest the furloughs, but they said they represented the many working parents who want their kids to return to the classroom.

"I don't like furlough Fridays," said Ali Hanusz Soguk, 8, a third-grader at Noelani Elementary School in Mänoa. "They keep me from school and my friends and keep me from my teachers."

Raine Higa, another third-grader from Noelani, read a letter she wrote to the governor. "What were you thinking, Linda Lingle?" she wrote. "This is going on too long. We want to be smart."

The 1,000 Student Voices program is the brainchild of Save Our Schools, a grassroots group that is mostly made up of parents and community members. The group's goal is to put pressure on lawmakers and the state to end furlough Fridays in January.

"Everyone in Hawai'i understands that this is a serious budget situation, but our first priority as a society is to educate the children," said Marguerite Butler-Higa, a member of Save Our Schools. "We need to find a solution soon. One that is acceptable to the students, the teachers and the government leaders."

Clare Hanusz, a mother of two children, said her son, Ali, calls the furlough days "Failure Fridays."

"He said that the grown-ups have failed him," Hanusz said. "We have to keep being the voice for those who can't come out and protest. We are concerned that furlough Fridays will become normalized. We want to get money on the table and get the kids back to school."