A group of 20 parents frustrated by the decision to furlough public school teachers are organizing a march at the state Capitol on Oct. 23, the first furlough Friday in a series of 17 this school year.

The parents — moms of public school children from 'Aikahi, 'Ahuimanu, 'Aina Haina, Kahala and Waikiki elementary schools — are also hoping to collect several thousand signatures on a petition urging Gov. Linda Lingle, legislators, education officials and the Hawaii State Teachers Association to reconsider cutting days from the school calendar.

"A lot of us were shocked at the amount of class time our kids would lose," said Jennifer Hoy, a parent organizing the march.

"Parents are incredibly upset. They really feel let down by the state as a whole," Hoy said.

She and the other mothers planning the rally hope their collective voices will motivate decision-makers to come up with other ways of coping with the state budget shortfall.

Hawaii State Teachers Association members on Sept. 22 ratified a contract that called for 17 days of furloughs, equal to a 7.9 percent pay cut. The state Department of Education faced $227 million in cuts ordered by Gov. Linda Lingle this year, $117 million of which is being taken in school employee furloughs and other labor savings.

The furloughs are to be taken over a series of Fridays, starting Oct. 23, when the parents will gather from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Capitol. The furloughs will reduce the school year to 163 instructional days, which will likely leave Hawai'i with the shortest school year in the country.

"They need to come up with a workable solution that doesn't balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable people," Hoy said.

Allison Mikuni, the president of the Kahala Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization, said planners don't want the event to be a protest, but instead a public conversation about possible solutions.

"The feeling is that we should do something to give us a political presence, and give our children a voice in the conversation," Mikuni said.

Mikuni said the group is also looking for speakers who can talk at the event about the long-term impact of losing 17 instructional days.

"It feels like the door has been closed in terms of Fridays," she said. "We don't want to accept this as inevitable."

Education and union officials last week said they'd be willing to reopen the HSTA contract and reduce the number of furlough days if lawmakers were to come up with more money for schools.

Some state lawmakers have hinted at ways to reduce the number of furlough days including a modest increase in the general excise tax or using a portion of the Hurricane Relief Fund.