Furloughs: Let's get real about saving next year
The halfhearted effort by the teachers� union and Gov. Linda Lingle to end the stalemate over furlough days isn�t just disappointing, it�s pathetic.
Both sides need to get over themselves and get real about reaching a deal that gets the kids back in school.
This week�s name-calling, complaint filing and fingerpointing served only to harden the unsustainable positions of both sides.
So now we need a heroic move from either the governor or the teachers, someone who will step up and say, �We�re so committed to getting the schools open that we�re giving up X.�
And because there is no trust and because feelings are so raw, that�s probably not going to happen.
So we�re back to assuming there�s no hope of restoring any of the furlough days on this year�s calendar.
We will once again suggest that the best that can be expected is not an elimination of furlough Fridays for 2010-11 but a reduction from 17 to seven.
Our plan includes buying back six of the days using rainy-day funds. The other four could be restored by converting planning days to teaching days.
The math works if only essential staff are called back to work, using rainy-day money � but that�s far from a done deal. The union is balking at differentiating among its members and agreeing to allow some to work while others stay home, unpaid.
If that�s such an onerous prospect, the union has to loosen up in some other way. For example, while Lingle has been unreasonable in demanding that all planning days be converted � teachers really do need some non-classroom work time � HSTA leaders should be willing to sacrifice more non-instructional days.
By state Constitution, contract disputes must be settled by the teachers and their employers, but lawmakers can help by advocating and budgeting for a reasonable adjustment to the 2010-11 school calendar.
Without this kind of reality check, the public schools will be treated to more of the same sound and fury over who�s at fault for furloughs � signifying nothing but a failure of state government to do right by its students and taxpaying parents.
