Across the Islands today, 170,000 public school students will be anywhere but the classrooms where they would normally be.

Hundreds of younger students will spend the day in child care programs, but many others will be staying home with caregivers or older siblings, and plenty of older kids are expected to converge on beaches, malls and parks.

And for the first "furlough Friday," those against the plan are promising a good showing — with a rally at the state Capitol that's expected to attract hundreds and smaller demonstrations at other sites.

At Noelani Elementary School in Mänoa this morning, more than 100 students and parents from the campus and neighboring schools plan to gather and "demand that the state open our school," said organizer Robert Perkinson, whose daughter attends kindergarten at the school. From Noelani, the group will head to the rally at the state Capitol, where they'll join hundreds of others against furlough Fridays.

"Mortgaging our future and taking this out of the hides of our kids ... I think it's unconscionable," Perkinson said of the furlough plan.

Jo Curran, who is helping to organize the rally, said at least 800 people will arrive by buses coming from around the island.

Use of the buses was donated by Gomes School Bus Service, she said. Hundreds more are expected to come to the rally on their own.

"This is about turning around and re-evaluating our attitude to education in Hawaii," said Curran, whose child attends Kähala Elementary.

The furlough plan, an emergency fix to help close the state's massive budget gap, has attracted national attention and is increasingly being used as an example of the tough decisions states are having to make in the economic crisis. In an opinion piece running in The Advertiser today, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said he is disappointed in the state's decision to cut class time to save money.

"Sure, students may like the three-day weekends now, but I know they also realize that they will lose out in the long run if they don't receive the education they need and deserve," Duncan wrote in the column. "There has to be a better solution than cutting more than three weeks from the school year. Even in these difficult financial times, we have to invest in our children's education."

DOE spokeswoman Sandy Goya said the department cannot yet say how much the furlough days will save.

Previous estimates put the savings at between $4 million and $5 million per furlough day.

PART OF NEW CONTRACT

The 17 furlough Fridays were part of a two-year contract the Hawaii State Teachers Association ratified in September. The furlough days amount to a 7.9 percent pay cut for 13,000 teachers, and will give Hawaii the shortest school year in the nation.

Yesterday, those who work at schools but don't fall under HSTA and won't be furloughed today were given assignments from school principals on how to spend their time at closed campuses. There are 2,280 United Public Workers employees at public schools, and 180 UPW workers based at DOE offices. They include cafeteria workers, custodians, electricians, masons and other laborers, Goya said.

State Sen. Norman Sakamoto, chairman of the Education Committee, said the UPW workers will probably spend the first furlough Friday catching up on cleaning or working on inventory — the same sorts of things they do during winter and spring breaks and other days off. He said he hopes the furlough days are planned out well, though, so the UPW workers don't spend the time "just sitting on the side."

In response to the backlash over furloughs, Sakamoto, D-15th (Waimalu, Airport, Salt Lake), said it's now time to focus on a solution.

"As the economic torrent undermines the schoolhouse ... hollering about it isn't curing anything," he said.

EXTRA HOMEWORK

As students left their schools yesterday for the long weekend, many had extra homework to occupy their time. Educators have voiced concerns about how the missed class time would affect students, and it appeared many teachers — especially at high schools — were trying to make it up by assigning more homework than usual.

But some students said even the extra homework wouldn't keep them indoors today.

"We're going to be chillin'," 17-year-old Tahilanu Halaifonua, a Kaimukí High School senior, said laughing. "We'll be at the beach."

Several older students also said they were on baby-sitting duty, watching younger siblings or relatives' children.

Kaimukí senior Natasha Mefy, 17, was being charged today with watching two siblings — a fourth-grader and a kindergartner. But she planned to spend the morning at a campus tour of Heald College. She said the tour was the only productive thing she could find to do.

"I don't like it," she said, of the furlough plan, adding that it gives her a short senior year. She's worried "about the education we're going to miss."

Pälolo resident Otto Chevalier, who was picking up his 14-year-old daughter at Kaimukí High yesterday, said it's up to parents to ensure their kids are spending furlough Fridays fruitfully. He added that it helps that teachers are assigning extra homework and that a number of agencies are putting together educational events for the furlough day. He added that he thinks the furloughs at schools are here to stay.

Kaimukí freshman Taylor Silva, 13, wasn't too excited about the day off.

"I like school," she said.

Her grandfather, Ed Suekawa, said the freshman will probably spend the day reading and catching up on work.

He's not too worried about the missed school, but asked why the state let the situation get so bad that the furloughs were needed.

Kailua High senior Sarah Newman decided to use the furlough days as a business opportunity. She's advertising her baby-sitting services — and already has two families she's helping today.

Newman added that she does worry about how the furloughs will affect her education.

She said some of her teachers are cramming more into less instructional time. Others, she said, "are just cutting stuff out of the course."