At a news conference in Honolulu on Sunday, Gov. Linda Lingle proposed to do away with Furlough Fridays in public schools starting next year by tapping the rainy day fund for $50 million and by using noninstructional, rather than classroom, days as time off without pay for teachers.

On Maui, several people who have been critical of the schools' part in the state financial retrenchments were generally pleased with the proposal. However, it will require a special session of the Legislature and renegotiation of labor agreements to become a reality.

Lingle said her idea would ensure that there is no classroom time lost for the period of Jan. 1 through June 30, 2011. It would not affect the seven Furlough Fridays that have occurred and will continue to be taken this year.

There are 27 school-less Fridays planned for the 18 months from Jan. 1 in the current contract. The proposal would use 15 nonclassroom days, when teachers are paid but do not teach, to replace instructional days being cut back because of tumbling state revenues.

Those noninstructional days are used for preparation time, workshops and teacher institutes.

Twelve days would be restored by tapping the rainy day fund - formally, the Emergency Budget Reserve Fund - for $50 million.

Sen. Shan Tsutsui said: "Obviously, we're interested," but added that "it will take the House to join us."

Liza De La Rosa of Save Our Schools Hawaii said her Maui group has been pouring in phone calls to find a few more state representatives to change their minds about leaving intact Furlough Fridays, negotiated earlier this year between the Board of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association.

She said her group is "very happy the children will go back to school," although less pleased about using the rainy day fund. "Part of our mission statement has been for more transparency at the Department of Education, how they are spending money," she said.

De La Rosa said that both the BOE and the teachers' union may be lured back to the bargaining table with a $50 million bait.

Kris Musto, another organizer of Save Our Schools, heard about the idea first from a reporter. "I think it's great she (Lingle) is paying attention to this," she said.

However, Musto said, she has many questions and hopes that with this plan teachers will be spared both layoffs and pay cuts.

Lingle said, "I want teachers, parents, educators, business people to start to focus more on what we produce on the days we're in school, not just how many days are we in school. This plan allows us to do that."

The governor said her proposal would refocus on improving the quality of instruction, including putting together a competitive plan to position Hawaii to compete for additional federal education funding, including the multibillion-dollar Race to the Top program.

It would restore stability to the school year and eliminate the disruption that has occurred to family schedules.

She said her proposal reflects a shared approach to the budget shortfall - there will still be some furlough days; teachers would contribute their noninstructional time; and the state would provide additional compensation to cover the remaining days.

The governor had just returned from a trip to Asia and leaves today for the Republican Governors Association convention.

"My team is standing by to begin to negotiate with HSTA, HGEA, talk with legislators, to meet with the Board of Education and the Department of Education," she said. "So my being away shouldn't stop us all from moving forward this time, now that there's a specific proposal on the table."

The Legislature convenes in January, but Lingle said she would consider calling a special session earlier, "if we had a consensus."

Previously, Lingle had resisted calls to use special funds to cover the shortfalls created by rapidly declining state tax collections. She said that, watching the islands from China, "it seems it's all that people are talking about or thinking about in Hawaii. We need to get refocused on the economy, on job creation, on economic development and on energy security. I felt keeping the bigger picture in mind was more important at this point to move us forward as a state."

The Furlough Friday plan would help achieve that goal, assuming the state revenue picture does not get much worse. The Council on Revenues has steadily lowered its estimates and may do so again in the future. Tsutsui said the government has to continue to "find ways to make up for the shortfall."

Last week, the state announced hundreds of layoffs of state workers, and that does not cover the entire budget gap.

Asked whether the state might have to lay off even more people, Lingle said, "I think it's too early to answer that question right now. It's important to watch our revenues month by month."

* Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com. Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.