Gov. Linda Lingle's senior policy adviser said yesterday that the governor's offer to reduce teacher furloughs stands, so if teachers want to preserve planning days instead of swapping them with furlough days, they would have to come in on their own time.

Lingle has offered to take $50 million from the state's rainy-day fund and asked teachers to swap planning days for furlough days to eliminate teacher furloughs starting in January.

But the Hawaii State Teachers Association has said that teachers are concerned about giving up all of their planning time, which teachers use to prepare for class or collaborate on school improvement.

Linda Smith, the governor's senior policy adviser, said the administration made it clear to the teachers union at a private meeting on Tuesday that the governor has made her offer.

"We made it very clear that if they believe this noninstructional time is essential, then they have the option of not walking out the door and leaving during those noninstructional days," Smith said. "But we do insist that they must come back and work the 27 furlough Fridays."

Smith's comments provide additional insight into the meeting and context to some of the statements made afterward by the teachers union.

Smith considered the meeting positive and the two sides are scheduled to talk privately again on Wednesday.

"If the teachers union really didn't feel that this was a workable plan, then they could have easily told us that within the first few minutes of our meeting," she said. "But instead they came at this with a lot of questions."

SPECIAL SESSION

HSTA leaders said in a brief statement after the meeting on Tuesday that teachers would be willing to return to the classroom on furlough days only if they are paid. Union leaders expanded their statements on Wednesday by explaining the importance of planning days for teacher preparation.

The teachers union also has raised questions about which teachers and school staff would return under Lingle's proposal and how much money it would cost for the state Department of Education to open schools.

Wil Okabe, the HSTA president, yesterday called Lingle's proposal "a concept, not a comprehensive plan," and said the teachers union is not in a position to reject the offer or make a counteroffer until it receives more details.

"What we have been provided so far doesn't appear to offer adequate resources to provide quality instruction or even a way to pay for the limited amount of resources that were in her proposal," Okabe said in a statement. "I will say that the noninstructional days are critical to providing quality education. And this is about quality, not just the number of days students spend at school."

State House and Senate leaders have said they are willing to return in special session to authorize the use of the rainy-day fund to reduce teacher furloughs and would preferably come back by mid-December and no later than the end of the year.

If no agreement between the Lingle administration and the teachers union is reached within the next two weeks, the temptation may be to wait until the next regular session of the state Legislature in January.

If that is the case, teacher furloughs would likely be considered in the context of the state's projected $1 billion budget deficit through June 2011. Some educators and parents have pushed for a special session because of the potential for teacher furloughs to be engulfed by the larger budget debate.

RAINY-DAY FUND

Lingle's proposal is to use $50 million from the rainy-day fund to reduce 12 furlough days and have teachers swap 15 planning days for furlough days, eliminating 27 furlough days in all. The two-year contract between the state and the teachers union now calls for 34 furlough days for most teachers.

The next furlough Friday is scheduled for Dec. 4.