Furlough Days

[missydog1]

>>>This would eliminate the working parents immediate problem and move it to an extension of the summer break which is more manageable.

Absolutely. I prefer to speak about the specific situation I know, but in our case we have a non-custodial parent and another grandparent in California who would be thrilled to have a summer visit. I live on the east side and can do extended visits. It's these bits and pieces that are so hard to fill in. These little breaks like Fall Break, are not long enough to justify a plane ticket to the mainland, two tickets actually - for a week break?

As an update -thank you Carey for the link to the Parks & Rec and Boys and Girls. For my situation, Boys and Girls has nothing on the west side, so it's out.

I had a nice talk with the disabilities coordinator for P&R. As I expected from our familiarity with how hard it is to find childcare for special needs children, it will not work as the program is set up. They can not provide "personal care" for children who need it, nor can they provide one on one care for a child in a wheelchair who is not able to self-maneuver. The child is welcome to register and attend if a family member or other personal attendant can be present for caretaking. Obviously that won't help a working parent.

Another thing I learned, which may apply to other parents' situation, is they cannot administer medication for children who need it. That is not an issue for us but it could be for others.

[missydog1]

In reply to Bulwinkle's question:

quote:

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Who will set the guidelines as to who gets the limited resources. I believe the federal aid for many of these disabilities ended under reagan, we turned the psyc wards out, closed the special schools.

Treatment for a range of child affecting conditions ranging from autism to fetal alcohol syndrome now a state burden. Its a tough call - there are many needs, medical, education and so many other "treatments" - who will prioritize? I share the pain every time I see an unmet need.

I wish there was enough (and would pay taxes for) for all in need ... in the meantime everyone seems to think they are part of a special needs class that should get the limited money - we are staging for more winners and losers as resources become ever more limited and special needs groups become lobbying organizations

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I understand your pain, but if these children are not helped, what a loss to our society. My husband had a disabled brother born prior to WWII, in the dark ages for such children. He lived into his 50's, spending most of his life on a bed in an institution. How much did that cost society? Early therapy for these children, and reasonable accommodation, can help them lead productive and happy lives.

[DickWilson]

Where is the unfair treatment of special needs students. All students are being deprived of a major portion of the education week. Adding the furlough days to the end of the school year makes to much sense for Lingle and her band of idiots. But all students are being treated the same, or are we saying that special needs students are a little more equal than others? " shades of animal farm there."

dick wilson
"Nothing is idiot proof,because idiots are so ingenious!"

[JWFITZ]

I think it's also very important to note that the situation that engendered this "furlough" issue is not going away any time soon, and deeper cuts are inevitably on their way. As has been discussed a great deal over the last couple of years leading up to this situation--again I'll really suggest that government is going to fail us on this issue and it will up to one's personal community to personally shoulder the burden of services once taken for granted. This won't be easy. We'll all need to form our communities and look out for each other. It will be less than convenient. As in Kathy's case, it really means someone showing up. I mean at the door, not merely empathizing.

Here's more rosy news on that topic.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601015&sid=aFbiGWsXmkyU

http://sensiblesimplicity.lefora.com/

[Rob Tucker]

Jay is correct that this problem is not going away soon. I suggest that the budget issues with DOE are on a parallel track with our county. State and county have developed a decades old habit of mismanaging money (tax dollars). The first thing government looks to do is not change - reduce services but maintain the systems of bad management.

I do not doubt that an audit of DOE would show even worse management than our county LAO has shown in Public Works. My own estimate is that 40% of funding is wasted. If that could be cut in half then school days and a number of supply and salary issues would be solved. Cutting waste in half will require eliminating a number of unproductive and useless positions.

I see two choices:

A. Do nothing. Relax. Watch T.V. Let the government system reduce services and maintain waste. You pick up the slack as best you can.

B. Get Active. Press hard for better business practices and more open government. Write and call officials. Attend meetings. Support new candidates for office (maybe yourself). Vote.

If there is a third way please let me know.

[DickWilson]

Buy lots of rope and use it[]

dick wilson
"Nothing is idiot proof,because idiots are so ingenious!"

[JerryCarr]

I agree with Rob that propping up government institutions that were inefficient and/or failing before the current economic crisis makes no sense. Top to bottom reform should come first, at which point the need for additional funding will probably be moot. It is easy to call for a tax increase to bail out the schools, but it won't solve the real problems of a broken system and a population which largely does not give a damn about education. Ask any teacher about the general level of parental participation and support they get here in Hawaii, and see what they say.

I personally think that a large majority of the teachers really do the best they can under the circumstances. I just wish they would take a hard look at their union leadership. The union joined with the DOE administration to approve a furlough calendar which retained a number (six, at least) of planning and meeting days at the expense of instruction days. What does that tell you about their priorities?

[Rob Tucker]

I can't find any reason to generally make the teaching staff the whipping post for DOE. I think that the financial problems are directly related to a bloated, overstaffed middle management. This management has made an art of diverting money away from education children and into the coffers of a wide variety of vendors and contractors.

I did think of one think that could be done and is long over due. It concerns the fact that Charter Schools are funded at about one half the rate (per pupil) of DOE operated schools. The successes of Charter Schools at such a low funding level probably explains why DOE treats them so badly.

I believe it is time for a Civil Rights/ Discrimination Complaint to be submitted to the Federal Department of Education. If a compelling case can be demonstrated to the Feds then we citizens would not need to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for lawyers and lawsuits. The Feds have the lawyers and the leverage (Federal Funding).

It takes elbow grease.

I am heavily involved at this time in similar efforts on similar topics. Someone needs to take the bit and form some working groups to develop a federal complaint. All the data is out there and in the public domain.
No need to accuse any individuals of anything. Demonstrate that the system is itself providing unequal treatment.

It can be done. Do it.

[malolo]

quote:

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"I am pissed at what they did with this furlough mess and the teachers have to take responsibility. Obviously, they used this terrible schedule of furlough days as a negotiating tactic...

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Truth be told, teachers didn't find out the actual dates of the proposed furloughs until the evening of Friday, September 18th (if, in fact, they happened to check their e-mail and/or HSTA-website that night). Otherwise they learned of it through the media over the weekend, or when they got to school the following Monday, Sept 21st, just as everyone else.

Believe me, 99% were shocked as anyone in the general public.
And many of them jetted off e-mails and scathing letters to the powers-that-be.

And they didn't take the Tuesday, Sept 22nd ratification-vote lightly either.

In the case of the more-experienced/veteran teachers, it was either Vote-"No" and see Lingle and her henchmen lay a bunch of their colleagues off ...or accept the dreaded furloughs.

And in the case of those teachers who'd only been recently hired, it was clearly their jobs and their families' welfare that were in immediate peril. Not much of a decision there, I wouldn't imagine.

As far as taking the 17 furlough days as a block at the end of the year?
Granted, that sounds like an easy/logical fix...

However it wouldn't have worked: it would have jammed up retirement-benefits for all 13,000+ teachers.

According to the Honolulu Advertiser:

"Hamamoto said the state looked at scheduling furlough days on holidays or teacher planning days. Some teachers also suggested taking furlough days in a block at the end or before the start of the school year, so teachers could get other jobs or go to school to enhance their credentials.

But Hamamoto said that the state could not retroactively take back holidays and that teachers have to work a certain number of days a month to qualify for benefits."

So.
Now everyone's stuck with it.
And everyone's got to make the best of it.
Until such time as the economy turns around or dollars are infused into the system somehow.

The teachers and their families (and their co-workers and their families) have to learn to live on a good bit less for awhile.

As do the families in the rest of the community.



---malolo

http://costofwar.com/

[JWFITZ]

Some thoughtful and practical replies here-- it's heartening to see that.

I think it's important to consider that there are two sorts of issues that face the students--there are both immediate issues and systemic issues that threaten their futures. Immediate issues for example might be: hunger, abuse, poverty, violence(at home or school) or elsewise that gets in the way of an education. Systemic issues may involve lack of funding, or corruption, such of that manner. Both matter. However--it's important to note that immediate issues are poorly addressed by systemic responses--and are never addressed in real time. So, while civic involvement may be constructive, it will require more than that from the community. Unfortunately the unspoken subsidy--those picking up that slack-- is often the teachers themselves, purchasing lunches for kids, or providing class materials, or otherwise, at personal expense. It's a tough spot to be in but that's reality.

http://sensiblesimplicity.lefora.com/