Four-day weeks catching on

With the financial challenges facing public school districts not just in Minnesota but across the country, the four-day week is getting a serious look from many points of the compass. The LA Times wrote an editorial on the subject this week and highlighted some of the benefits:

There appear to be educational benefits as well. Absenteeism among students and teachers in these schools has fallen appreciably, the report said. (As a result, schools also paid less money for substitute teachers.) Students reported feeling more positive about school. Dropout rates fell, students behaved better and participation in extracurricular activities rose. Parents of young children often objected to the change because of the need to find childcare, but once the programs were in place, the report said, they often found that it was easier to find care for one full day a week than for several partial days. Test scores didn't fall, and in many cases, they rose.

We have seen indications of some of these things over the course of this year, but not all. We will certainly know more after the school and fiscal year end and we are able to look more closely at our implementation.

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