“I’m obviously disappointed that no agreement has been reached to reduce the number of furlough days for public school children following this morning’s talks.

“Governor Lingle’s decision to restrict $270 million from public schools resulted in 34 school furloughs. When furloughs were ratified, the Governor praised the Board of Education, the Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association for reaching a settlement to help the state meet its budget deficit.

“This was a very tough decision to make, but one that was necessary to meet the unprecedented budget reductions imposed on our schools.

“Today, the administration and the Hawaii State Teachers Association were unable to reach an agreement to reduce the number of furloughs by utilizing the Rainy Day Fund.

“After several weeks of negotiations, I became optimistic that a deal was imminent when the Governor’s senior policy adviser, Linda Smith, said yesterday that the administration recognized the value of preserving planning time for teachers. We were hopeful that we could meet the Legislature’s timeline to return to a special session.

“After today’s talks broke off, the Board and Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto picked up the ball and held a meeting with HSTA to continue to look at every possibility to reduce the number of furloughs. That remains our top priority.”