Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday shot down an agreement between the teachers union and education officials to end most furlough days this school year, saying it was not "fiscally responsible."

The teachers union, Board of Education and Department of Education agreed to restore seven of the 10 remaining furlough days this school year by using $35 million from the state's rainy day fund. The plan did not address the 17 furlough days scheduled for next school year.

Lingle offered on Nov. 15 to use $50 million from the rainy day fund to restore 12 furlough days if teachers would agree to teach on 15 planning or other noninstructional days. Her plan would have wiped out all remaining furlough days this school year and next.

"The proposal (from the union and DOE) completely ignores the state's worsening economic outlook," the governor's news release said yesterday.

Lingle objected to the proposal because it used more than two-thirds of the $50 million she offered but only restored seven furlough days. She wanted to leverage the $50 million to end all 27 furlough days.

"This arrangement is not a credible plan, it is not fiscally responsible and it is not sustainable," Lingle said in the news release.

"We cannot agree to a plan that does not solve the furlough situation and that shortens the school calendar at the expense of children and their families," she said.

Garrett Toguchi, chairman of the state Board of Education, said last night: "We understand her concern, that it's not what she wanted. I hope to get some time to meet with her this week to explain how much we want to restore as many days as possible.

"The Board is very aware of the unprecedented economic challenges facing our state. This latest plan is by no means the optimal solution, but it is important to note that it relies on significantly less Rainy Day funds, adequately staffs schools, eliminates furlough Fridays in the current school year and rearranges furloughs next academic year to minimize disruption to teaching," Toguchi said in a statement last night.

While the governor technically does not need to sign off on the new plan, she would need to approve the Legislature's use of $35 million from the state's rainy day fund. Legislative leaders said yesterday their ability to move the plan forward would depend on the governor's support.

Senate President Colleen Hanabusa said without the governor's support, legislators will be reluctant to act. Hawaii State Teachers Association officials met with legislative leadership yesterday after the union announced its board voted to support the agreement.

HANABUSA REACTS

"It is still an issue of collective bargaining, and in my view that requires the governor's participation," Hanabusa said.

Under the agreement, $35 million from the state's rainy day fund would have restored five furlough days. Teachers would then give up two planning days — Jan. 4, the beginning of the second semester and May 27, the last teacher workday of the school year. The school year for students would end three days early on May 21, meaning the week of May 24 would be a furlough week for teachers.

For next school year, the state Board of Education has also agreed to rearrange the 17 furloughs in the school calendar to minimize disruptions to instruction days.

Even if the Legislature were to act without the governor's support, Hanabusa said Lingle would still have the ability to withhold the release of the money.

"There is, of course, some agreement that if the governor is not on board, we wouldn't know how to get the money to them anyway," she said.

Wil Okabe, president of the HSTA, said before Lingle's statement that the plan represented a compromise to deal with the urgency of the current school year. He said more talks may be necessary to deal with next year's furlough days.

Okabe said dealing with this school year first would position the public school system better to garner $75 million from the federal Race to the Top competitive education grants.

Under the governor's furlough restoration plan, the union and education officials estimated the DOE would have faced a $19 million shortfall. That's because the DOE estimates the cost of operating the schools, even without paying teacher salaries, exceeds the $50 million Lingle was offering.

Lingle has been adamant that she wants all 27 remaining furlough days for this year and next eliminated.

SUPPORT CRUCIAL

Toguchi said yesterday he was attempting to schedule a meeting with the governor for sometime this week. He said he believes her support is crucial.

"If there is reluctance or outright rejection from the governor, we would not be able to do something that we could not fund," he said.

In her news release yesterday, Lingle's office said, "To date, the HSTA, the DOE and BOE have not shared details of the proposed plan with the (Lingle) administration nor have they returned phone calls since last Wednesday."

The HSTA, DOE and BOE agreement also leaves next school year up in the air. Unless there is more money from the Legislature, the 17 furlough days for the 2010-11 school year remain. The BOE's Toguchi said the board plans to rearrange the school calendar — spread the furlough days out at the beginning, middle and end of the year — to eliminate furlough Fridays.

Speaker Calvin Say said restoration of instructional time will be on the agenda during the upcoming legislative session.

"Instructional days are important to all elected officials, so it is something we will consider," Say said.

Lingle's representatives walked away from talks with the HSTA, DOE and BOE on Dec. 17 when the teachers union said $50 million was not enough to restore all furlough days.

Union and Department of Education officials said they were worried that Lingle's plan, by their tally, was $19.3 million short.

Officials feared that restoring furlough days, and the $19.3 million shortage, would result in layoffs of 2,500 full-time employees, an increase in class sizes and loss of programs. The teachers union had also expressed concern about giving up the roughly 10 yearly planning days.