Ninth U.S. Circuit Court Judge A. Wallace Tashima this afternoon denied a motion that would have temporarily stopped the state public schools’ “furlough Fridays.”

In denying the preliminary injunctions,Tashima said it is unlikely that the plaintiffs will succeed at trial in their two lawsuits against the state.
The suits, filed by attorneys Eric Seitz and Carl Varady, sought an injunction against teacher furloughs in public schools.
Before making his ruling from the bench, Tashima said, “There is no easy choice here. ... What’s the least bad of all the choices you can make here is what it comes down to.”
The next furlough Friday is scheduled for Nov. 20.

Earlier this morning, Tashima denied a motion by Seitz to have Hawaii Attorney General Mark Bennett dismissed from representing the state against the two lawsuits.
Seitz had argued that Bennett and his staff have a conflict of interest.
Tashima found “no showing on the record of an actual conflict of interest.”
In his argument this morning, Bennett called Seitz’s motion an “outrageous allegation of unethical conduct on the part of teachers, principals and deputy attorneys general.”