Public schools are shuttered today throughout the Islands after a federal judge yesterday refused to block the state's decision to furlough teachers for 17 Fridays through the rest of the school year.

Judge David Ezra made the decision in a hearing on two last-minute legal challenges to the furloughs, filed primarily on behalf of special education students, but said he will hear further arguments on the issue Nov. 5.

The furloughs, which begin today and continue for roughly two Fridays per month until May, will cut instructional days in public schools to 163 a year from 180. That will likely place Hawaii's public schools at the bottom of the list of teaching days among all states.

The furloughs were agreed to by Gov. Linda Lingle, the teachers' union and a majority of the state's 13,500 teachers who ratified the plan in a September vote. The furloughs effectively cut teacher pay by 7.9 percent and help the state narrow a $1 billion budget deficit through June 2011.

In a pair of written rulings issued yesterday afternoon, Ezra appeared to throw doubt on the validity of some of the legal challenges to furloughs.

He stressed that the opinion was preliminary and was not a reflection on "the ultimate strength" of the legal challenges filed by two teams of attorneys headed by Carl Varady and Eric Seitz.

Even if the legal challenges could have shown a likelihood of success, Ezra wrote, issuing an eleventh hour restraining order that forced schools to remain open today "would inevitably lead to chaos and confusion."

"A temporary restraining order from this court would require (the state) to inform and mobilize in excess of 185,000 students and tens of thousands of teachers, administrators and staff, all within less than 17 hours," the judge ruled.

"The court does not believe such a hasty response would benefit the students in any discernible way."

'MINIMIZE THE IMPACT'

Ezra's ruling came after arguments against the furloughs were delivered by Seitz and Varady. State Attorney General Mark Bennett argued for allowing the furlough plan to proceed.

Bennett told Ezra that the furloughs, and shrinkage of the school year, have come because Hawaii is struggling through its worst economic climate since statehood.

And he argued that the Department of Education "is doing everything it possibly can to minimize the impact" of its serious budget problems on students and "comply with federal law" requirements on educational programs for special-needs students.

Seitz retorted that he has heard the lack-of-money argument from the state before — 15 years ago when lawsuits were filed against the substandard programs the state was then offering to public school special education students.

After 12 years of litigation, Seitz said, those programs were instituted and now they are threatened again.

"The same thing is happening over again," he said. The state is saying "we don't have the money to do what we know we're required to do."

The other plaintiffs' lawyer, Varady, argued that his clients have education contracts that the state has "unilaterally" violated.

He suggested that there are other options available to educators, including delaying the planned furloughs until the end of the school year.

Bennett said after the hearing he was pleased with Ezra's decision and noted that the Nov. 5 hearing will involve a request for a preliminary injunction , "a different type of hearing that will include the presentation of evidence" from both sides.

DECISION SUPPORTED

Will Okabe, president of the teachers' union, the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said after the hearing, "I believe this was the right decision for the judge."

Okabe said teachers "understand the frustration that the parents and the students have. However, we are very encouraged that the governor is willing to look at other alternatives to get the teachers back into school."

Patricia Hamamoto, superintendent of the state's public school system, said: "What the judge did was very prudent in thinking about the safety of the children. I was out at Mililani this morning and the principal told 2,500 students there's no school tomorrow, and that's quite a lot of number of kids that we would have to go back and find."

She said the Department of Education will review what happens at schools over the next three weeks in preparation for the Nov. 5 hearing.

"Until we go through the next couple of furlough days, it would be too soon to speak," Hamamoto said.