If children really are our future, don't you think that they should be well-educated? Furloughs are being implemented to save the economy, but these funds should be taken from somewhere else, not from education.

Elementary school sets the groundwork for the rest of a child's life. There, they receive lessons on social skills and start on their journey toward academic achievement. Time in school is crucial for these young children. With a strong foundation, they will be better able to succeed. Lost school days do nothing for students' academic and social maturation. Seventeen furlough days? That amounts to more than three weeks of school. Schools are already falling behind academically. In the school year 2008-09, 68 percent of Hawai'i public schools did not meet No Child Left Behind standards.

What is to be done about students who need the extra class time or teachers who now need to hurry through lessons and hope students get a gist of what they need to know?

If furloughs need to be implemented, they should have been implemented in a place that doesn't touch education.

Kelcee Fujimoto | Grade 11, Mililani High School