HONOLULU -- Hawaii parents want school furloughs to end right now, but two state Senate committees are looking to the future to make sure Hawaii's public school children are never again robbed of any classroom time.

They gave first round approval on Tuesday to a bill to require a minimum of 200 school days each school year.

Currently, Hawaii public schools don't have a required number of school days.

Lawmakers hope that legislation to set a specific number of school days per year will prevent teacher furloughs in the future as well as improve public education.

Most parents said they'd welcome more school time for their children.

Heidi Nishimura has three children in Hawaii public schools.

"You know, it seems like we are kind of the joke of the country right now," Nishimura said. "I know now we are at the bottom of the list for the number of school days so if they were going to increase them I would be all for it."

Hawaii school children had 180 school days a year before furloughs, now they have 163 -- one of the shortest school years in the country.

Even before the furloughs, Hawaii school children suffered by having one of the shortest school days in the country just six hours of school instruction each day

Parents said Hawaii's shorter school days here makes adding more days even very important.

"The school days are short, not just the days but the hours, so I am for it," Nishimura said.

The bill, approved by two senate committees, would guarantee 200 days each year, but it said nothing about lengthening school days. Some parents said they would like to see 7-hour school days.

Teacher's Union president Wil Okabe wonders how the state would pay for additional days.

"If they are unable to pay for 180 days how will they be able afford 200 days in extending those instructional days," said Okabe.

Another bill in the legislature talks about making the yearly requirement the 180 school days Hawaii used to have.

The lawmakers also wanted to prohibit any collective bargaining agreement from shortening a school year to less than 200 days.

But they rejected that section of the bill after legal experts said it was unconstitutional.