Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona today called for expediting the plan unveiled by Governor Linda Lingle to end the state’s hotly disputed teacher furloughs and cancel a planned 10 percent reduction in school days.
The Governor’s proposal calls for shifting teacher-only days to regular classroom time and tapping $50 million from
the state’s rainy day fund to cancel 27 planned furlough days that were set to take place between January of 2010 and June of 2011.
During his monthly radio show, heard live on KPUA, Aiona said its now up to the Board of Education (BOE), Department of Education (DOE) and Hawai`i State Teachers Association to move the plan forward.
“We can agree to this today and if we need to call a special session, the Governor is ready to call a special session,” Aiona said. “If there is an agreement on it, I believe leadership in the legislature is ready to consider a special session. If everything is agreed to and we need to get the appropriation
from the rainy day fund it can be done today.”
The BOE and HSTA agreed to the furloughs to deal with a budget shortfall, but the move spurred lawsuits and the possible loss of millions in federal funds. Aiona said he would have preferred a straight pay cut without furlough days to produce the
intended savings in labor costs. But he says the primary objective is to get children back in the classroom as soon as possible.
(Copyright 2009 KPUA.net/New West Broadcasting)
