Losing 17 days of classroom instruction in our public schools is unacceptable.

While today's budget crisis is temporary, the negative impacts of cutting 17 days of classroom instruction this year will last forever. No one will disagree that as a direct result of this action, student achievement will suffer, test scores will fall and the future of an entire generation of young people will be impacted. The disruption to our families as they scramble with the added burden, further multiplies the adverse impacts.

When I speak to community groups around the state, I like to repeat a truism I have learned serving in the Legislature: "When they tell you there is no money, what they are really saying is that it is not a priority."

The future of our children must be our top priority. While we can complain about the quality and bemoan the historical low ratings of public education in Hawaii, losing 17 days of classroom instruction will reverse years of effort and plunge our state deeper into educational mediocrity.

It does not have to be this way. We can avoid teacher furloughs and keep our schools open by having the political will and foresight to use a portion of the $180 million now in the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund.

As someone whose life was shaken by Hurricane Iwa in 1982 and then losing my home and almost losing my business to Hurricane Iniki in 1992, I do not make this suggestion lightly. The physical damage wrought by a hurricane would be rebuilt, with or without the hurricane fund in place. Insurance companies have returned to Hawaii since their post-Iniki departure and federal disaster agencies are also ready to help.

With our budget in dire straits funding options are limited. Every state program has already been drastically cut and all public workers face pay cuts, furloughs and even layoffs. The additional funds needed to make our schools whole are too great to achieve by simply cutting state programs even more. Furthermore, our state constitution guarantees the rights of public workers to bargain collectively. Neither the Legislature nor the governor can dictate to teachers or other public workers specific contract provisions or wage cuts.

Although the hurricane fund can provide immediate relief, long-term answers must come in the 2010 legislative session. We must make the hard decisions with regards to streamlining and restructuring all government services, and face head-on the question regarding possible tax increases. If the public supports increasing taxes on behalf of education, we must approach the topic with the clear goal of improving the status quo, not simply piling on more tax increases.

To be clear, we cannot continue to rely on tourists and high-income residents to carry the brunt of the load. Possibilities include reforming the general excise tax by removing this regressive tax from supermarket food, medical services/supplies and rents under $1,000 — while earmarking a modest net increase for education. Other possibilities include what some are calling the "new sin taxes" — a "sugar tax" on soda, a "fat tax" on fast and/or processed food and a "carbon tax" on oil — all of which would serve the dual purposes of raising much needed funds while deterring inherently unhealthy behavior.

In the coming weeks there will be many meetings where the pros and cons of various ways to deal with this issue will be debated. These discussions are important, but we must speed the process in restoring our children's access to education. If others have ideas that would resolve the issue in a realistic and bipartisan manner, I would love to hear them.

The long-term remedies demand an extensive community discussion and thorough evaluation. The short-term solution, however, I believe is clear. We need to convene a one-day special session, utilize hurricane funds for education, cancel the 17 days of furlough and send both parties back to the bargaining table. Losing 17 days of classroom instruction is just unacceptable.