First Furlough Friday
Oct 23rd, 2009 by Capsun
Well, it looks like this dark day has finally come – today is the first Furlough Friday.
Before I go any further, I have an admission. This topic may be a little more academic for me than other State employees. You see, as of now, I am not subject to the furloughs. Let me assure my fellow hard-working State employees that I will share in your pain. Ours is a two State-employee household, so my wife, the teacher (who now she has 6th grade), will be on furlough like the rest of the HSTA union members.
When I first drafted this blog post, I thought it would be a zoo of a mess today. But now that other Executive branch employees will be on Furlough Friday today, I think the impact will be lessened, but still problematic. In fact, Furlough Fridays may end up working out best for State employees whose children attend public school as they won’t have to make special childcare arrangements.
But what about the rest of our residents? If you aren’t a State employee, or if you just need Furlough Friday options, be sure to check out the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii’s “Keep Active on Furlough Fridays” list of activities, programs, and services. Oh, and at least then there should be less traffic…unless everyone who is off today decides to go in the same direction.
As a friendly reminder, don’t forget that the Hawaii State Capitol IS OPEN for business today and every Furlough Friday. I even had to point that out on Dave Shapiro’s blog. Let me repeat, the Hawaii State Capitol IS OPEN.
And that works out great for the big rally that is scheduled there today from 10 am – 1 pm. It is being organized by a group called Hawaii Education Matters. Unfortunately, I have a conference that I committed to weeks ago,so I won’t be able to attend. However, even Congressman Neil Abercrombie is encouraging people to attend, “Not in a spirit of anger, but rather to hold our leaders and ourselves accountable for our children and the future of our islands.”
Mahalo!
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So sad. Last night, a little boy, grade school, came on my bus and I asked him about the furloughs. He looked at me and just said “I”m mad. I like to learn” I told him that he can go to the libraries, do on line, just don’t let what is happening stop him from his dreams. He said, “I get to play some more but I can always do that”
What a mess we are creating for our children. Education should be a top priority. Oh I’ve got an idea…why not cut the salaries of ALL politicians…make them get paid what they are really worth!!
See Amoeba’s post. http://ocquill.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/dude-and-dude-furloughs-r-us
As a teacher I am appalled at the way the Hawaiian government treats their educators and their students. Here a competitive future only belongs to those who can afford a private education. I say this because at the end of last school year I talked to a mother trying to get her daughter into a high profile mainland college. A straight A student from a Hawaiian school, despite good test scores, doesn’t have a competitive edge. The college suggested the mother put her daughter in a less prestigious college for a couple of years so her grades could be tracked in accordance to her mainland peers.