Legislation to require Hawaii's public schools to give students a full academic year of instruction cleared key committees last week, but the bills have a long way to go.

In other states, minimum instructional time is set by law or regulation. In Hawaii, it is decided through bargaining with the Hawaii State Teachers Association. But the deal struck by the union and state administration to cut costs by shutting down schools on 17 “;Furlough Fridays”; this year sparked an uproar. Parents and some policymakers are pushing to bring Hawaii in line with the rest of the country by guaranteeing students a certain amount of classroom time.

“;Everybody's saying we need to do better and instructional time is one of the major components of helping our students,”; said Sen. Norman Sakamoto (D, Salt Lake-Foster Village), chairman of the Committee on Education. “;In looking at Hawaii compared to other states, we have a shorter school day than others. It's not just the number of instructional days, it's the amount of instructional time.”; Several bills were introduced this legislative session to mandate minimum instructional days and/or hours. Two are still alive, one in the House and one in the Senate. Both were approved by money committees last week and are headed for floor votes so they can cross over to the other chamber. But legislators gave each bill a defective date, a technique to ensure further discussion and action before passage.

House Bill 2486 mandates at least 1,080 instructional hours per year in elementary school and 1,260 in high school. That translates into 180 school days with six hours of instruction each day in elementary and seven hours in high school. Senate Bill 2470 calls for a minimum of 200 days of classroom instruction or “;equivalent instructional hours.”;

Before the furloughs, Hawaii's public schools typically had 180 instructional days per year, the same as the majority of states across the country, according to the Education Commission of the States. With the furloughs, Hawaii has just 163 days planned this academic year and next.

The length of the school day in the islands is already short. Students in Hawaii's public high schools receive at least four hours and 17 minutes of classroom instruction on an average day, although many get more, according to the state Department of Education. The national average is a minimum of 5 hours and 14 minutes of instructional time, according to an Education Commission report, although some states include recess in that.

“;Think what a difference an extra hour a day of instructional time would make,”; parents Jessica Perez-Mesa and Melanie Bailey told legislators in written testimony. “;If we had 180 school days, an extra hour would equal six additional weeks of school. In addition, this extra learning comes at minimum expense. Adding an additional hour does not require extra transportation, meal preparation or payroll for salaried employees.”;

Robert Witt, executive director of the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, testified in favor of mandating more classroom time for public school students, calling it “;an economic imperative”; to help them compete in a global marketplace as well as an issue of social justice.

“;The children most in need of a good public education will be those most harmed by fewer instructional hours,”; he said. “;These children may be 'left behind' irretrievably.”;

The Hawaii State Teachers Association cautions that teachers would need to be compensated for any extension of the school year. “;Increasing the number of hours would incur great costs at a time when the governor and the Legislature are seeking ways to cut costs,”; HSTA President Wil Okabe testified.

“;HSTA has always been open to extending the work year for teachers and has done so under the Waihee and Cayetano administrations,”; he said. “;Other attempts to increase the work year for teachers have been met with failure, not because we were opposed to them but because the state was not willing to pay for the additional work time.”;

While some union members argue that the length of the school year must be set by collective bargaining, House Education Chairman Roy Takumi said the Legislature can decide that as long as it doesn't impinge on any current contract.

“;It's a trade-off,”; he said. “;Look at California, which has 180 instructional days. Because of that law, they could not have furloughs. What they did was increase class size and lay off thousands and thousands of teachers.”;

Still, Takumi (D, Pearl City-Pacific Palisades) favors more classroom time for Hawaii's kids.

“;Quantity of hours and quantity of days in and of itself does not necessarily translate into quality of instruction and potential for increased achievement,”; he said. “;That said, I am a proponent of increased class time. Korea has 200 days. When their students graduate, they have attended school for 2 1/2 years longer. So on the international benchmark tests, the Korean kids clean our clocks.”;