WAIMÄNALO — A federal education official who's in the Islands to learn about the challenges and successes in Hawai'i schools yesterday said the state needs to do more to eliminate furlough days and keep children in the classrooms.

Peter Cunningham, assistant secretary for communications and outreach for the U.S. Department of Education, said furloughs are a move in the wrong direction in solving the state's economic problems.

The admonishment, following U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's plea last month for a better solution, comes as state officials and the teachers union work to resolve the furlough issue.

Cunningham said he plans to meet with the governor, union leaders and legislators and his message to them will be to keep kids in school.

"They need to dig deep and tighten their belt in other places," he said while visiting Waimänalo Elementary and Intermediate School yesterday. "They shouldn't be balancing their budget on the backs of children."

Gov. Linda Lingle has offered to take $50 million from the state's rainy day fund to help eliminate teacher furloughs starting in January, but teachers would have to give up planning days.

Cunningham said he is hopeful that the two sides will work things out and that another round of federal stimulus funding will help.

"We know that states all across America have to cut somewhere," he said. "We just want to make sure that education is the place that isn't being cut."

Cunningham is on a "listening and learning tour" with stops in Hawai'i, Guam and American Sämoa that will include conversations about the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind act.

In Waimänalo yesterday, Cunningham and U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono met with parents, students and staff. He also visited Niu Valley Middle School.

Cunningham said he will work with members of Congress on legislation that gives schools incentives to get better and stay better.

"No Child Left Behind doesn't really reward success," he said. "It tends to punish success. We need to turn that around."

Loimata Soa, a parent, offered an example in which the school received extra tutoring service for the students because scores were low, but lost the service when scores improved.

"For me it's a double-edge sword," Soa said. "To me it doesn't make sense and a community like us with low income we can't afford to take our children back to tutoring."

Waimänalo Elementary and Intermediate has improved over the past few years raising its scores, retaining more students and is losing fewer teachers.

Hirono credits new principal Noel Richardson and the many partners at the school, including Kamehameha Schools, UPLINK after-school program and Head Start Pre-Plus preschool.

The federal government is ready to give incentives to schools that improve so they can maintain their gains, she said.

"Clearly there's a lot of money at the federal level now coming down to help," Hirono said.

Richardson said having the education secretary at the school helps him to better understand the needs of the campus and gain an appreciation for it.

"They understand our focus on technology and where we want to go," Richardson said. "Hopefully the secretary will walk away with that and that each school is unique and each school has its own different set of circumstances."

TALKS ONGOING

The Hawaii State Teachers Association released a statement yesterday saying it is still waiting for budgetary and personnel information from the governor's office.

The teachers union has questioned which teachers and school staff would return on furlough days under the governor's proposal. The union has also been concerned that teachers would have to give up all of their planning time.

"It is the HSTA's contention that students cannot be properly educated without the resources provided on a normal school day," Wil Okabe, the union's president, said in a statement. "For example, many children with special needs require educational assistants who help them while the classroom teacher works with other students. Some of these students need occupational therapists, psychologists and services from other providers as well. Apparently, these critically important individuals are not covered in the funding proposed by the governor.

"In addition, health aides and security personnel would not fall under the essential-teachers rubric, according to the information provided this past Tuesday. The same goes for counselors and other personnel we consider essential for academic achievement, as well as health and safety. The formula for the number of certain personnel, such as vice principals, that are supposed to be present on campus, would also be abandoned, if we understand the governor's proposal."

Russell Pang, a spokesman for Lingle, said the administration is expected to release further details about the governor's proposal when administration officials meet privately with union leaders tomorrow.