HONOLULU -- A federal court judge on Monday ruled against an injunction to halt furloughs at Hawaii public school.

Since the Friday furloughs began on Oct. 23, lawyers for learning disabled students said even missing Fridays is a big set back, especially for autistic children.

"They're biting kids, they're hitting other kids, they're hitting teachers and para-professionals and autism consultants. So, it's dramatic, the effect of the furloughs is not just and inconvenience," attorney Susan Dorsey said.

The attorneys asked a federal judge to temporarily halt more furloughs, claiming that cutting school days without allowing special education students a hearing first violates federal law.

Judge A. William Tashima, of California, sided with the attorney general.

"There is no easy choice here," Tashima asked. "What's the least bad of all the choices."

Lawyers representing special education and mainstream students had claimed their rights were violated when the schools imposed at least 17 furlough days this school year.

The judge ruled that the students were not likely to prevail in their lawsuit, so he denied a preliminary injunction, which would have stopped the furloughs.

"We want the schools open and we want kids to be well cared for, and now I'm hoping that this will spur actions as we know it already has in other quarters to resolve the situation," attorney Eric Seitz said.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judge said he was worried that if he approved an injunction, the result would cause many teachers to lose their jobs and class sizes to increase to 50 students per class.

"The Department of Education acted legally. We are faced with an unprecedented budget crisis. They did not violate the law," Hawaii Attorney General Mark Bennett said.

Attorneys representing the students said they plan to appeal Tashima's ruling.

"Obviously, we're disappointed. We would like to see all avenues of pressure put on the state to open the schools, and I think the public has made that very clear," Seitz said.

The judge urged both sides to continue to negotiate some kind of an end to the furloughs.

"We're continuing to discuss the different ways that we could possibly look at restoring schools, of which dollars always help," Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto said.

"We have to take a long, hard look at this plan to leave Hawaii's children behind, in the 20th century and maybe even further back. We're not going to be competing with the rest of the world if we do that," attorney Carl Varady said.

Public schools are open this Friday, but are scheduled to be closed next week for furloughs.

The state said it is arranging for extra help for learning disabled kids to make up for the time they've lost on Fridays. They are bringing in therapists and specialists even on weekends, but parents said their disabled children need routine school time to keep them on track.

Earlier in the day, Tashima ruled on an issue brought up by the plaintiffs' attorneys.

Seitz accused the attorney general's office of improperly allowing school principals and teachers to discuss furlough issues with special education students who are part of the lawsuit and filed declarations on what they've found from his clients.

"The attorney general and the representatives of the Department of Education have been out and around, talking to kids without our knowledge, and without the knowledge and permission of their parents," Seitz said. "Kids who we represent, and that's just not something that any ethical lawyer would ever do."

The attorney general's office denied any unethical conduct.

Tashima dismissed the accusation.

"Do you want an order for no teacher to talk to a student?" Tashima said.

Seitz said the state claimed there have been no problems caused by the teacher furloughs. According to Seitz, that is "just unfathomable."

"There's no question. When kids are not in school, some damage is being done. When special ed kids are not in school, it could be irreparable harm," he said.

U.S. District Judge David Ezra recused himself from deciding the furlough lawsuits after being appointed the special master to try to mediate an out-of-court settlement on the cases.

Gov. Linda Lingle and legislative leaders have been searching for other solutions to the furloughs, including pay cuts.

"Well, certainly a 5 percent pay cut is preferable to taking off so many school days," Lingle said.

But even with straight 5 percent pay cuts, money would have to be found elsewhere to make up the state's nearly $1 billion budget deficit.