Thursday, October 22, 2009

KKCR: Furlough Fridays

My topic on today's Out of the Box radio program will be Furlough Fridays — the issues, options and opinions. I have several guests lined up, so please listen in and call with your questions and comments. We'll be primarily focusing on the school closures, but we can easily expand the discussion to the planned closures of many state offices on Fridays. So tune in from 4 to 6 p.m. today on 91.9. 90.9, 92.7 or www.kkcr.org.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

From today's Honolulu Advertiser:

"U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, said he has met with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan about whether federal stimulus money might be used to pay for some of the classroom instruction time lost to furloughs. State lawmakers have already included federal stimulus money meant for education in the two-year budget approved last session but now out of balance because of declining state tax collections.

Abercrombie said Hawaii is one of the few school districts in the country that has not used federal stimulus money to lengthen or strengthen instructional time."

So the legislature used the stimulus money to replace state funding that normally would have gone to education? What were the state funds used for if not education?

Anonymous said...

Maybe a surcharge per child is needed to reopen Fridays. That could also send a message to the parents to limit the number of childern to those you can actually afford to care for.
This could also be a bonding moment for kids and parents. Read a book together, plan a budget together,do a little houskeeping The possibilities are limitless.
teachers could assign homework or research to be done Fridays.

Anonymous said...

The more oppressed the worker the greater the pain. Here is the top down pecking order.

Courts > highest pay - no concessions
UHPA > high pay - impasse
HSTA > medium pay - some concessions
HGEA > lowest pay - most concessions

Anonymous said...

"This could also be a bonding moment for kids and parents. Read a book together, plan a budget together,do a little houskeeping The possibilities are limitless."

Nice option for those who don't have to work.

Anonymous said...

"This could also be a bonding moment for kids and parents. Read a book together, plan a budget together,do a little houskeeping The possibilities are limitless."

You are not even real!

Mel Rapozo said...

Thanks for the great radio show. I got disconnected and couldn't get through. We gotta keep the fight. Thanks again.

Mel

Anonymous said...

The stimulus funds shouldn't be hijacked from their intended use.

That said, a few furlough days off aren't going to hurt the kids. Maybe if kids (and vis a vis parents) took their studies more seriously, they'd actually get an education.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, what's a few days off. So we've got the least number of instructional days in the country. All you surfers who were so worried about the Superferry, well it'll be a little more crowded on furlough Fridays.

Mel Rapozo said...

The stimulus funds would not be hijacked. Those funds were intended for education. Here is an excerpt from the editorial written by Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education.

"President Obama and Congress worked together to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the Recovery Act. The law includes $100 billion for education. Of that, $40 billion or more will help states avoid devastating cuts in K-12 education and drive reforms in states. My department has already made $105 million available to Hawaii from this stabilization fund. Hawaii is eligible for $52 million more when we release the rest of those funds later this year. In total, Hawaii's schools and students are scheduled to receive more than $500 million from the Recovery Act."

These funds were intended to be used to keep schools open. Hawaii chose not to participate. Why not!!!!!

Anonymous said...

TO: October 22, 2009 10:23 AM

What were the state funds, replaced by stimulus $, used for if not for education?

Doesnʻt anybody get it yet? The Superferry carved out a new one in Lingle but she(?) has so far managed to hide the TRUE cost of the Superferry crime against the taxpayers of Hawaii.

Plain and simple, it is a massive cover-up.

Anonymous said...

TO: October 22, 2009 12:30 PM

What have you had a frontal lobotomy or something????????

Anonymous said...

TO: October 23, 2009 12:54 PM

I donʻt believe recalling EVER in the U.S. education system that a child must EARN their right to education.

Did you?

Anonymous said...

"These funds were intended to be used to keep schools open. Hawaii chose not to participate. Why not!!!!!"

October 23, 2009 4:48 PM

I had not read that before. This is shocking.

What are the chances of an FBI investigation now of Lingle and Bennett?

Anonymous said...

Mel Rapozo said Hawaii refused the stimulus money but the advertiser says it was used to replace state funding that would have gone to education.

So whatʻs the truth? Hawaii got the money and illegally misappropriated it with the consent of all legislators including Hooser or Hawaii refused it?

Anonymous said...

An earlier post responded: "I donʻt believe recalling EVER in the U.S. education system that a child must EARN their right to education"

I think you missed my point.

Are kids these days taking their educations REALLY seriously??? I wonder.

Maybe changes need to be made to the overall format of how 'education' is 'delivered'. Is just saying that X days in school equates to a 'good' education really working??

Anonymous said...

"Are kids these days taking their educations REALLY seriously??? I wonder."

But thatʻs not the point. And at what age or grade did you start taking your education seriously?

I think the kids defer to the adults by default on this...until they are maybe forced into a contemplative mindset.

Honestly, I remember hauling home a lot of books but I sure was glad when school was out===and up until a certain point, I didnʻt even comprehend what ʻtaking my education seriously meantʻ.

What the question of the day is: Does Lingle take the kids education REALLY seriously?

Apparently not. And perhaps it is all part of the dismantling to privatize EVERYTHING.

Laughable that people worry about government control. Well the government seems to have control and soon all will have Blackwater schools, toll bridges, babies, you name it...name will be changed of course. hmmmm

Anonymous said...

CORRECTION last post should say: government seems to have LOST control.

Anonymous said...

"But thatʻs not the point. And at what age or grade did you start taking your education seriously?"

What I'm talking about is the "not cool to learn" (for lack of a better descriptor) culture which each year seems to gain force. Not talking about elementary age kids, but rather high school etc. Yeah forget school, lets move on to drugs and crime for fun and amusement.

If you don't recognize this, your head is in the sand.

Anonymous said...

Interesting how a fairly benign blog post (notes about the radio show) has turned into quite a discussion. Joan serves as a catalyst, but the commentors are far more interesting.

Anonymous said...

"If you don't recognize this, your head is in the sand."
October 24, 2009 4:17 PM

Drug usage is not the issue here. It very well could become a much bigger issue thanks to that thing that calls itself a governor.

Ever since drugs have been on this planet, teenagers have indulged. Only thing that changes is the type and/or method of delivery.

Have YOU had your head in the sand?

サイドビジネス said...

1日5万円~が手に入るサイドビジネスのご案内です。男狂いのセレブ女性はネットで知り合った男を次々に金の力で食い散らかしています。そんな女性を手玉にとって大金を稼いでみませんか