The state is working to reduce furloughs for Hawai'i's public school teachers, but a lawsuit challenging the furlough days is still moving forward.

A federal appeals court in San Francisco on Friday granted a request to move up the date of a court hearing.

Honolulu lawyers representing families of special-education students are appealing a federal judge's Nov. 9 ruling that rejected their request to halt "furlough Fridays."

Judge A. Wallace Tashima of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court said that although the lost classroom days might cause "irreparable harm" to the special-education students, he believed that ordering schools reopened would cause more harm than good.

On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a plaintiffs' request to move up the appeals process. The state must now file its response to the appeal by Dec. 10, instead of Jan. 7 as originally scheduled. The plaintiffs expect that a hearing will be held before the end of the year in San Francisco, before a three-judge appellate panel, said an e-mail from plaintiffs' attorney Carl Varady.

A total of 17 Friday teacher furlough days are planned this school year, and last Friday marked the fourth day that schools were closed as a result.

Gov. Linda Lingle met Friday with legislative leaders on a plan to use money from the state's rainy day fund to reduce furlough days.