According to Breaking News on the Honolulu Star Bulletin website, "Two lawsuits seek to halt 'furlough Fridays' at Hawaii public schools"
What did our leaders think would happen? Did they think the people of Hawaii would just sit back and allow this to happen? Did they think the the people of Hawaii would agree with them that education is not a priority? The article states:
Lawyers representing public school students, in both regular and special education, have filed two separate lawsuits in U.S. District Court seeking to block "furlough Fridays."
The complaint notes that parents enrolled their children in public schools on the assumption that the school year would be 180 days, and then the state decided unilaterally to shut down schools for 17 days this year. It also says the decision disproportionately affects certain classes and racial groups.
The suit alleges that the furloughs are an unlawful change in programs and services the disabled children receive. Federal law allows changes to such special education services only if parents agree or a hearing officer or court finds the change appropriate for the child.
Attorney General Mark Bennett said that the DOE plans to go ahead with the furloughs, adding that he didn't think a request from Seitz for an injunction would be granted. "I believe the DOE has negotiated appropriately with (the Hawaii State Teachers Association) and I don't believe there is a viable cause of action," he said. Apparently, Mr. Bennett is more concerned with the union negotiations than he is with Federal law. I guess we will see what the Judge thinks.
I commend these attorneys for stepping up to the plate when our leaders failed to do so. These lawsuits were filed in Federal Court and will hopefully receive immediate attention. It is sad that this road had to be taken. The people of Hawaii spoke loud and clear but our fearless leaders chose not to listen. The attorneys warned the State of litigation but the State did not listen. The State decided to ignore the warnings and now we will be in court. At least we know that the Governor won't be able to "pressure" the Federal Judge into making a decision that will benefit the State. I am very optimistic that the Plaintiffs will be victorious in this case.
The underlying message is that Hawaii does not consider education a priority. We didn't learn from the Felix lawsuit years ago. From the June 2, 2005 Honolulu Advertiser:
It is indeed shameful that it took a lawsuit (known as the "Felix" lawsuit because it was originally filed on behalf of Maui student Jennifer Felix) and more than 10 years of tough, uncompromising court supervision to get us where we are today. Many millions of dollars later, the state now is providing a "free and appropriate" education to most, if not all, of its special-education students. The cost of reaching this landmark was astounding, in part because Hawai'i was forced to play catch-up after years of failing to fully meet its obligations to these students under the law.
Hopefully this will be resolved without lengthy and costly litigation. I doubt it, but I am hopeful. Based on the comments made by many of our leaders, it appears that we will not see a "peaceful" resolution to this very serious matter. God bless our children.
Yes, our so called leaders were hopeful that the people would react like "sheeps" and sleep walk through this whole process. With so many distractions going on in the world today i.e. the economy, people losing their jobs, medical etc. it's no wonder they have little if any energy left to put up a good fight. Another reason is because many good citizens, TRUST not only the government but the politicians to represent them honestly. People need to wake up and see them for what they really are - then and on then will things begin to change for the better.
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