The bulk of the $35 million in federal stimulus money under Gov. Linda Lingle's control was originally earmarked for charter schools, officials said.

Charter School Administrative Office executive director Maunalei Love said yesterday that the schools are expected to receive about $24 million of the money, which lawmakers and education officials have been eyeing to help cover some of the furlough days.

The governor committed that money to the charter schools a couple of months ago, but the money has yet to be received or spent, Love said.

"We spent about a month putting together a 90-page plan on how we were going to address the four assurances under the stimulus funds," Love said, referring to the federal requirements the state agreed to by accepting the money, also known as Part B of the federal State Fiscal Stabilization Fund.

"With the state's budget restraints, it seems like everyone is after that Part B money," she said.

This week, lawmakers and the state Department of Education expressed interest in using the money to get rid of some of the furlough days the state agreed to under the new Hawaii State Teachers Association contract.

On Monday evening, following a special special legislative committee hearing, state Board of Education chairman Garrett Toguchi sent a letter to Lingle requesting the funds.

"I believe there is no better way to invest in education than by ensuring Hawaii's students spend as much time as possible in the classroom with their teachers," Toguchi wrote. "I strongly encourage you to allocate the $35 million ... to reduce the number of furlough days scheduled for public schools."

The furlough days are part of the DOE's plan to address $227 million in budget cuts mandated by Lingle and lawmakers. Public schools have already been closed for three of the 17 scheduled "furlough Fridays" that began Oct. 23.

It is estimated that each furlough day saves the state up to $5 million.

It remains unclear whether the $35 million is available to be spent on reducing furlough days. On Monday, Lingle's office said the money had already been appropriated in the last legislative session and that some of it is being spent on education improvements required under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Linda Smith, Lingle's senior policy adviser, said the money is being spent on "payroll and other expenses." She was not specific on the programs.

"It's been in the budget. It's being spent as we speak," Smith told The Advertiser on Monday. She did not immediately return messages seeking additional comment yesterday.

Rep. Roy Takumi said the initial plan to spend a portion of the stimulus money on charter schools would have helped Hawaii garner competitive federal dollars, known as the Race to the Top fund. That's because U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan has put additional emphasis on expanding the charter school movement in the country.

"The hope from the administration was to better position the state for Race to the Top dollars," he said.

Takumi, however, said the stimulus dollars could be a short-term fix to furlough days, which may hinder the state's ability to draw down additional federal funds. Lawmakers would still need to come back next session to make a long-term decision on dealing with the public school furloughs, which run through next school year.

"The administration is being very circumspect in how they are going to use that money," Takumi said.