Four Is Not Enough

Budget cuts and the slumping economy have some school districts finding ways to stay afloat.
Those school districts facing the most cuts are going to a four-day school week, while other
districts are now figuring out and calculating the savings they could realize by a four-day school
week. With the economic downfall we should still keep education a priority, or there could be
pitfalls for our children. Test scores would go lower; more children would be home unsupervised
while parents are out making a living. What about the added expenses of finding good,
affordable daycare during the week? MACCRAY, public school district in Minnesota, which has
adopted a four-day week schedule, has seen their students score significantly below the
Minnesota state average in both core subjects. Four day conversions were initially done when
gas prices were at an all time high. Now that gas prices are leveling off, the districts should
mandate going back to five-day week schools (USA Today: Four Is Not Enough in a “Today’s Debate” column 2009).