State Senate Democrats yesterday endorsed Gov. Linda Lingle's plan to use $50 million from the state's rainy day fund to help reduce teacher furloughs.

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, speaking after majority Democrats met in private caucus, said the Senate was on board with the governor's plan and a special session to authorize the use of the rainy day fund. Hanabusa said the Senate's support was contingent on agreement by the state House and public-sector labor unions.

Lingle on Sunday recommended eliminating 27 of the 34 furlough days in the Hawaii State Teachers Association's two-year contract. The governor said money from the rainy day fund would cover 12 furlough days, while teachers should agree to give up non-instructional days to restore classroom time and erase 15 furlough days.

"What we decided that we would tell the public is the fact that the Senate is on board and ready, as long as everyone else is there, to go forward on a special session and to leave the collective bargaining parts of it up to the people who have to do collective bargaining," Hanabusa said. "But to the extent that legislation would be necessary, we are willing to do that.

"And we feel that the sooner everyone gets together, the better it is."

Hanabusa, D-21st (Nänäkuli, Mäkaha), said senators would like to hold a special session before mid-December. She said any later would be too close to the holidays. The next regular session of the state Legislature starts in January.

State House Democrats are expected to meet today in private caucus to discuss teacher furloughs. State House Speaker Calvin Say, D-20th (St. Louis Heights, Pälolo Valley, Wilhelmina Rise), has said he wants the teachers' union and educators to agree on Lingle's proposal before he would back a special session.

The teachers' union has said it is open to Lingle's proposal but has yet to receive a formal offer from the governor or the state Department of Education.

DISCUSSING DETAILS

Say said, ideally, he wants rank-and-file teachers to ratify any new agreement before the Legislature acts. He said he wants to avoid a repeat of what happened after teachers ratified the two-year contract in September and then many complained they were not fully aware furloughs would fall on classroom instruction days.

"I want teachers to know what they're signing off on," he said.

Hanabusa and Say are expected to update Lingle today, the governor's first day back from a Mainland trip to attend the Republican Governors Association annual conference.

Meanwhile, Lingle's staff met privately yesterday with state schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto and several members of the state Board of Education to discuss the details of the governor's proposal.

After the meeting, Hamamoto said she was "much clearer" on the issues that would need to be hashed out in negotiations with the teachers' union.

"In giving us a little more details, it helps us to understand and frame what the expectation is," Hamamoto said. "In collective bargaining and negotiations, the HSTA and the department and the Board of Education will have to sort of dance through all of this. We're not able to say what is possible or not until we go through crunching the numbers and heavy discussions with the HSTA."

Hamamoto said she expects conversations with the teachers' union to begin soon. She could not be specific about a timetable.

For about 45 minutes before the school board's afternoon meeting, the superintendent, along with BOE members Maggie Cox and John Penebacker, met with Lingle's staff, including Linda Smith, the governor's senior policy adviser, and Marie Laderta, director of the state Department of Human Resources Development.

$50M NOT ENOUGH

Garrett Toguchi, the school board's chairman, said one of the issues under discussion is whether the $50 million out of the rainy day fund will be able to pay for 12 furlough days. He estimated it might be $10 million to $12 million short, since it costs about $5 million a day to operate the school system.

"We're not sure if that is enough," Toguchi said.

On the legal front, Carl Varady, an attorney for several students and parents challenging furloughs in federal court, said he has appealed a ruling denying a preliminary injunction to stop furloughs.

Eric Seitz, an attorney involved in a separate legal challenge, said earlier this week that he would not file any appeals or further motions since it appeared a new agreement to end teacher furloughs was possible.

But Varady said his clients, which include special education students who have individualized education programs with the state defining specific services, could miss school for several more furlough days before a new agreement is reached. He also said it is possible negotiations could fail and teacher furloughs would continue.

"Although the political powers-that-be seem to be reorienting on this issue to try and find a better solution, there's no guarantee that that's going to happen," he said.