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  • Public School Furlough Days

    Hi, I am hoping someone can help clear up my confusion. I keep hearing rumors via my husband, who knows someone who knows someone who's cousin has a kid in the Hawaii public school system, that the public schools are operating on a four-day work week. I looked into this and found the calendar of furlough days, which did not seem to be every Friday. Today he came to me with new information that the schools are now only operating on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. I can't find confirmation of this through the board of education website.

    This is relevant because 1) I'm trying to decide whether to enroll my four-year-old in Junior Kindergarten this fall, or just pony up for an additional year of preschool and 2) I'd like to have an idea, as I'm making career plans and the like, whether we are going to have to budget for private schools or if we can enroll the kids in public school (of course there are many other factors to consider besides the furlough days).

    Can anyone give me the lowdown on what is going on with furloughs, and/or direct me to current information?

    Also - those of you with keiki in the system - how are you coping with the furlough days?

    Mahalo!

    carolyn

  • #2
    Re: Public School Furlough Days

    Originally posted by spookrepitus View Post
    Hi, I am hoping someone can help clear up my confusion. I keep hearing rumors via my husband, who knows someone who knows someone who's cousin has a kid in the Hawaii public school system, that the public schools are operating on a four-day work week. I looked into this and found the calendar of furlough days, which did not seem to be every Friday. Today he came to me with new information that the schools are now only operating on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. I can't find confirmation of this through the board of education website.

    This is relevant because 1) I'm trying to decide whether to enroll my four-year-old in Junior Kindergarten this fall, or just pony up for an additional year of preschool and 2) I'd like to have an idea, as I'm making career plans and the like, whether we are going to have to budget for private schools or if we can enroll the kids in public school (of course there are many other factors to consider besides the furlough days).

    Can anyone give me the lowdown on what is going on with furloughs, and/or direct me to current information?

    Also - those of you with keiki in the system - how are you coping with the furlough days?

    Mahalo!

    carolyn
    The furlough days are exactly what you see on the calendar. They usually fall on weeks that do not have a holiday or a waiver day (these teacher work days where they get time to prep and do paperwork; it's a provision of their union contracts). Thus, most weeks are 4 days weeks. I think there will be 3 or 4 five-day weeks since the furloughs began.

    HSTA and all those involved are working on resolving the furloughs to get kids back in school, but Lingle doesn't seem to give a crap and crushes all of their proposals.
    Twitter: LookMaICanWrite


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    • #3
      Re: Public School Furlough Days

      Aloha! You might want to read this - Its the Parents' Blog about furlough fridays from the Honolulu Advertiser. I think this should help!

      You can also check out this! Maaaan, I love this guy!
      ~ This is the strangest life I've ever known ~

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      • #4
        Re: Public School Furlough Days

        Unless I'm mistaken, every Wednesday is a half-day for the kids too. So on furlough weeks, only 3-1/2 days of school.
        .
        .

        That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

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        • #5
          Re: Public School Furlough Days

          I don't think Wednesdays are half days but they are reduced hours days. IIRC, public school ends at 1:15. I could be so wrong but that's what I remember!

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          • #6
            Re: Public School Furlough Days

            1:15 pm is correct on Wednesdays.

            My child is getting a great education at Hookena Elementary in South Kona. But I spend lots of time home schooling. Perhaps if more parents were involved in their child's education, or were literate in the first place, Hawaii schools would do much better.
            FutureNewsNetwork.com
            Energy answers are already here.

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            • #7
              Re: Public School Furlough Days

              Spookrepitus (love that name by the way) - Check out charter schools if you are thinking of a public school. I just spoke to a friend at the Charter Schools Admin Office. They are not affected as much by the school furloughs as regular public schools. Each school is allowed to set its own schedule and they also have separate bargaining agreements with the union. Each school is different so you would just have to pick one, call them and ask lots of questions.

              The websites for the charter schools are:

              www.hcsao.org

              www.hcsn.org

              I hope this helps - Good luck with your move!
              Last edited by anapuni808; March 31, 2010, 11:57 AM.
              "Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be."
              – Sydney J. Harris

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              • #8
                Re: Public School Furlough Days

                sorry - the second link was wrong. here is the correct one:

                http://charterschoolshawaii.org/
                "Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be."
                – Sydney J. Harris

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                • #9
                  Re: Public School Furlough Days

                  Originally posted by timkona View Post
                  My child is getting a great education at Hookena Elementary in South Kona. But I spend lots of time home schooling. Perhaps if more parents were involved in their child's education, or were literate in the first place, Hawaii schools would do much better.
                  Not! The logic of your conclusion is suspect.

                  It may be that your child is getting a great education at Hookena Elemantary and you may spend lots of time home schooling. However, those two statements don't logically lead to the conclusion that parental involvement in their child's education would improve the performance of the school(s).

                  Parental involvement in a child's education may improve that child's performance, but it certainly doesn't improve the education provided by the school (unless the parent is also involved in improving the school's performance). In any case, blaming [or praising] parents won't improve the performance of the schools or the students.
                  Last edited by salmoned; April 1, 2010, 11:47 AM.
                  May I always be found beneath your contempt.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Public School Furlough Days

                    You guys rock! Thanks!

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                    • #11
                      Re: Public School Furlough Days

                      Blaming or Praising parents does affect a school's performance. Look at Laupahoehoe Elementary School here on the Big Island. That school didn't meet the national standards so it was slated for closure. In the rural areas education isn't considered paramount in the raising of a child in a family. Therefore parental involvement isn't as apparent in the student's attitude towards academic success. This attitude is then applied to the student's academic progress at that particular school.

                      If that attitude is more apparent in that student body then naturally test scores for that area will be deficient. Teaching professionals do understand that parental involvement in their child's academics allow for better grades in school. When a teacher has a productive and cognatively intuitive student, the teaching process is enhanced as well. When both student and teacher work together, ultimately test scores rise and is a reflection on that school's ability to educate.

                      Granted there are students that can do it on their own despite being in a bad school or have bad parents. They are the exception. And there are exceptions to those who are bad students despite having great parents and teachers.

                      However in general, parental involvement with a child's school or academics is paramount to achieving success in that child's educational needs and that success is reflected in the school's attempt to administer academics to that child. When parents, teachers and students work together, great things happen. When you take any one of those out of the picture, the student invariably has a harder time. The end result is poor test results which can lead to a poor reflection on the school.

                      Parental Involvement + Student Involvement + Teacher Involvement = Great School.

                      Help teachers teach your child by giving your child the fundamentals of a proper attitude in education. That way teachers can spend more time educating rather than reprimanding their students.
                      Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Public School Furlough Days

                        Originally posted by timkona View Post
                        Perhaps if more parents were involved in their child's education, or were literate in the first place, Hawaii schools would do much better.
                        The parents' illiteracy is proof of the generations of failure by the Hawaii Department of Education. The state of Hawaii does not expect its students to excel. And much of the public does not expect the students to excel. "Furlough Friday" says volumes about Hawaii's view of the importance of education.
                        Now run along and play, but don’t get into trouble.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Public School Furlough Days

                          Originally posted by Amati View Post
                          The parents' illiteracy is proof of the generations of failure by the Hawaii Department of Education. The state of Hawaii does not expect its students to excel. And much of the public does not expect the students to excel. "Furlough Friday" says volumes about Hawaii's view of the importance of education.
                          ...and if the public school teachers really cared they would have opted/accepted a pay cut and maybe Furlough Fridays would never have come about...I think.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Public School Furlough Days

                            Originally posted by D'Alani View Post
                            ...and if the public school teachers really cared they would have opted/accepted a pay cut and maybe Furlough Fridays would never have come about...I think.
                            According to this national survey which ranks teacher salaries by state, Hawaii ranks dead last, when the cost of living is figured in.

                            And you still want teachers to take a pay cut? OUCH!!!!

                            Something needs to be done about ending the furloughs. But cutting teacher pay is definitely NOT the right way to go about it. As it is, a lot of new teachers from the mainland struggle to pay the rent and make ends meet. Cutting their pay means you can say "bye-bye" to many of those promising educators, as they seek jobs in places where their dollars stretch farther.

                            School days are important.... but the quality of the instructional day is just as vital as the quantity, if not more so.
                            This post may contain an opinion that may conflict with your opinion. Do not take it personal. Polite discussion of difference of opinion is welcome.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Public School Furlough Days

                              Without having this go on and on my feeling is if the HSTA leaders had taken a pulse of what the teachers wanted at the start of all this they might have found that most would have accepted the pay cut rather than face furlough days where everyone loses. HSTA leaders seem to do what they want without having teacher input. The last vote was all a sham to get more public support. Like I said this is my feeling as I have no figures nor have I spoke to any teachers to back up my statement.

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