The first of 17 scheduled "furlough Fridays" met, quite understandably, with a visceral outcry from parents who are worried about the effects of that much lost classroom time. Blame-shifting followed, sparked by the populist revolt and by the embarrassment of national media attention on the education cuts.

Enough with the finger-pointing. A truly cooperative effort needs to reshift the focus on cushioning the impact on kids as much as possible.

Among the players in the blame game: Gov. Linda Lingle, who found fault after the fact with the contract deal. Let's not forget it's a deal she signed off on, and one shaped in part by her decision to cut $270 million from the biennial school budget.

Pointing to a lack of accountability , Lingle now suggests that it would be better if the state schools superintendent were a Cabinet-level post, reporting to and appointed by the governor.

Lingle, long a critic of the state schools structure, does have a point on this issue. This would make lines of accountability clearer than they are now, with the superintendent answering to an elected board that rarely has a unified purpose.

In fact, it's surprising that the superintendent has not been part of regular Cabinet meetings up to this point. Surely public education is one of the state's top priorities and consumes a large chunk of the state budget.

The governor is accountable for her own role in the crisis, too. She had an opportunity to rebalance the cuts, requiring less from public education given its importance on the priority list.

After the contract was ratified and the protests erupted at the Capitol, she finally acknowledged that she should have nixed the final deal that carved out 17 days of class time. She didn't do that but said she has pushed for the parties to reopen the contract and amend it.

Reopening the contract is sure to cause untenable delays; it would be better if schools and unions could work on streamlining the long process involved in substituting noninstructional days for some furlough Fridays.

The governor's proposal to bring the superintendent into the Cabinet will require a Constitutional amendment. That proposal should be made at the next legislative session. But there's never been greater need for cooperation — and there's nothing to stop Lingle from issuing the invitation to meetings now.

Working collaboratively, the governor's team must now focus on finding partnerships and other funding sources to ease the strain of this budget crisis on Hawaii schoolchildren. And it must deal with a budgetary hole that's sure to widen when the Legislature convenes in January.