After two days of negotiations that initially appeared productive, talks between the teachers union and the governor's office collapsed with both sides unable to agree on how to end furloughs of public school teachers.

One of the main points of disagreement continues to be over requiring teachers to give up all of their planning days, beginning in January.

Gov. Linda Lingle proposed last month using $50 million from the state's rainy day fund to reduce furlough days by 12 and have teachers swap 15 planning days for furlough days. That would eliminate 27 furlough days — all furlough days from January forward.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association offered a proposal that would eliminate some of the furlough days, but not all, and would preserve some planning days, said Dwight Takeno, HSTA's interim executive director and chief negotiator.

Linda Smith, the governor's senior policy adviser, said teachers could keep all planning days as long as they also work on all the furlough days.

The union said that would result in teachers working for free.

"It is clear that $50 million cannot cover 27 furlough days. There must be an agreement to compromise. And so far, from this state administration, there is no compromise whatsoever. Unfortunately, we are back where we started from," Takeno said.

Smith said, "The joint DOE/BOE (Department of Education and Board of Education) administration bargaining team has made it clear that teachers can retain all of their planning days, if they so desire. We are simply asking them to come back into the classroom for 27 days and allow students to learn."

The two sides also dispute how much it costs to keep schools open for a day.

The union puts the cost at $5 million, and concludes that the $50 million from the rainy day fund could only restore 10 furlough days. Lingle says $50 million should be enough to restore 12 days.

The governor's plan only calls back "essential" teachers, meaning only regular classroom teachers, the union said.

The plan would not cover the salaries of health aides, educational assistants, office staff, security guards or cafeteria workers.

"All teachers are essential teachers. That is a very big stumbling block — trying to pit one group of teachers against another," HSTA president Wil Okabe said at a press conference.

No new talks are scheduled between the governor's negotiating team and the union.

$50M plan in limbo
Without an agreement, the likelihood of a special legislative session to approve that use of $50 million from the rainy day fund is now slimmer.

Lawmakers have said they would only be willing to appropriate the $50 million if the union and the administration come to some kind of agreement.

Union officials also said they were concerned by recent figures presented by DOE budget officials to the state Board of Education that show that the governor's plan to restore furlough days would result in a $19.2 million shortfall for the public school system. That's because the $50 million would not cover operating costs for the planning days turned into instructional days.

Education officials have said that, to cover the shortfall, up to 2,500 12-month employees would be laid off and class sizes may have to be increased, resulting in a reduction of more than 400 non-tenured teachers.

"The governor's plan would leave the DOE $20 million short, which would result in the elimination of essential programs and required services for students, increase class size and result in layoffs of state employees," Okabe said. "The governor's plan significantly undermines the quality of education and jeopardizes the health and safety of Hawai'i's children."

Yesterday's talks began at about 8:30 a.m. and lasted about an hour, according to union officials, and resulted in the governor's representatives walking away from the table.

State BOE chairman Garrett Toguchi, in a news release, said negotiators from the BOE and Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto would continue to meet with the HSTA, even if the governor's negotiators would not.

If those talks prove fruitful, state lawmakers might convene a special session.

"As long as the parties can reach an agreement, there is a chance of a special session," said state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa.

A two-year contract between the state and the teachers union, agreed to earlier this year, calls for 34 furlough days for most teachers. Teachers have already taken six furlough days this school year and have another tomorrow.

The teachers union and Gov. Linda Lingle's administration have hit a standstill in talks on reducing the number of Furlough Fridays at public schools, diminishing chances of a solution before early January.

Negotiations ended yesterday after four days with no plans to resume.

But Schools Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto and the school board are continuing to meet with the Hawaii State Teachers Association in an attempt to reduce the number of furlough days.

Lingle has supported the idea of using $50 million from the state's rainy day fund to restore 27 school days from next January through June 2011.

Her administration has said the $50 million will pay for about 12 days and was discussing how to provide additional instruction time for the remaining 15 days without increasing the education budget.

HSTA President Wil Okabe said to restore 27 school days using the rainy day funds, the state Department of Education would have to lay off some teachers and increase classroom size.

"The governor's plan significantly undermines the quality of education," Okabe said. "To have a position of take it or leave it is not a situation of collaborating and discussing."

Okabe said Lingle's plan also jeopardizes receiving $75 million in federal "Race to the Top" funds for education innovation and reform.

He said teachers have already taken an 8 percent pay cut. That has reduced the average teacher salary to $51,731 from $56,195.

Okabe said the department needs about $125 million, including the $50 million, to restore all the furlough days.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie said a solution could come from the Jobs for Main Street Act, passed by the House yesterday.

"Based on current population data, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service estimates that Hawaii would get approximately $92 million over two years from this fund," said Abercrombie, who is a candidate for governor. The Senate has yet to act on the measure.

Garrett Toguchi, chairman of the Board of Education, said the board, superintendent and union will resume talks without the governor's office.

He said he disagreed with the Lingle administration that the blame rests on the union's shoulders.

"We're disappointed that the talks broke off," he said. "The governor's team is not willing to make a counteroffer with the unions, which could essentially end all talks."

The board will resume talks by the middle of next week after teachers on the negotiating team finish classes, he said. The board and the HSTA could find a solution through a supplemental agreement to the teachers' contract, which doesn't require ratification.

One such agreement would be restoring lost instructional time on Wednesdays, which are short days for students.

"That could start in January, if accepted," Toguchi said. But he conceded it may not restore all 27 days as the governor wants.

"If both sides can move inward, hopefully we can come to something before the end of the year," he said.

He said the board also wants to preserve some planning days for teachers.

"We demand a lot of our educators," he said. "To take away those planning days is irresponsible and unfair."

Lingle's top aide, Linda Smith, said the governor has offered a "viable compromise solution," proposing to restore teacher salaries by 2.8 percent using the rainy day money.

But the administration said the union is proposing to reopen portions of the original contract unrelated to furloughs and is seeking changes that would compromise the safety of students and limit after-school programs.

"At this point, the ability to resolve the furlough situation rests squarely on the shoulders of the HSTA leadership," the administration said in a statement.

Star-Bulletin reporter Robert Shikina contributed to this story.

Court to hear appeal on furloughs
A hearing has been scheduled for February on an appeal of a federal judge's ruling denying a request for a preliminary injunction to end Furlough Fridays.

Visiting Judge Wallace Tashima of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the injunction request Nov. 9, saying the agreement that created the furlough days was made to address budget cuts and was not specific to individual education programs for special-needs students.

Attorney Carl Varady, who represents students with autism, filed a lawsuit that claims disabled students are being irreparably harmed.

A visiting court panel will hear the appeal at 9 a.m. Feb. 10 in Honolulu.

Tomorrow will be the seventh furlough day since Oct. 23. There will be three more before the February hearing.

Star-Bulletin staff