The Lingle administration and the Hawaii State Teachers Association will meet privately again today on teacher furloughs, following talks yesterday that were described as productive but fell short of closing the gap between the two sides.

Gov. Linda Lingle has proposed taking $50 million from the state's rainy day fund and has asked the teachers union to swap planning days for furlough days to eliminate teacher furloughs starting in January.

The governor's proposal would cancel 27 of the 34 furlough days for most teachers in the two-year contract with the state. The teachers union has expressed reservations about giving up all of the planning days, which are used by teachers to prepare for classroom instruction.

Neither side would discuss the private talks in detail. Linda Smith, the governor's senior policy adviser, said the administration provided teachers with information about how the $50 million from the rainy day fund would break down in covering teacher salary and fringe benefits.

"They discussed some of their concerns on the non-instructional days, but we're still looking at that as one of the elements," Smith said of swapping planning days for furlough days.

Dwight Takeno, the interim executive director of the teachers union, said in a statement that the union proposed a "viable option to the administration which they now have and are considering."

Smith said timing is becoming an issue in the talks. State House and Senate leaders have said they would return in special session this month to authorize the use of the rainy day fund, but would prefer to act before the holidays.

The teachers union may have to ask teachers to ratify contract changes and would likely want to hold a vote before schools break for the holidays after Dec. 18. Changes to non-instructional days covered in the base contract would require ratification under state labor law, although revisions to the supplemental agreement, which includes the furlough days, can be made through written consent of the negotiators.

Asked about the likelihood the two sides would reach agreement, Smith said: "Still possible, but there's a gap."

Lingle, in a radio appearance on the Rick Hamada show on KHVH, said it would take cooperation from all parties to reverse a furlough decision that most now agree was a bad idea. But the governor agreed with a caller who said she appeared to be placing the burden on the teachers union.

"You're correct in that I am pointing fingers directly at the union at this point, because you have a consensus between the Senate, the House and myself on how to get this resolved," Lingle said. "And it is the union, they are the official representative of the teachers, and to call it anything else would be giving the public a false impression.

"The public wants to know, 'What is it going to take to get this resolved?' And the only thing it's going to take now is for the union to agree."