Let’s face it: kids are worn out by Friday, and teachers and staff are as well. So why not give everyone a more manageable work and school week?
This would make many people happy and, just as much, mad. Many school students, teachers, and staff would be thrilled about this, while parents and caretakers might lose their minds.
Students would love a guaranteed 3-day weekend, more time with friends, and more rest and replenishment. This would make kids more well-rested and ready to learn come Monday.
Many parents are unhappy with this, including one mother from Missouri, “I want my kids in an educational environment…and I don’t want to pay for somebody to babysit them.” She does make a great point.
Many countries worldwide are starting to adopt the shortened week, such as Iceland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. With these four main countries promoting it, 17 other countries have caught on and have started the process.
Globally, this trend is being implemented in the United States in states such as Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, and California, which have counties that have approved a bill for this. In some cases, even entire states have passed the bill.
The only people who would never be on board with this are parents. So what if there was a way to accommodate them with the four-day workweek? This is perfect, so now parents do not have to hire babysitters or pay extra for daycare; they also get the day off.
But many factors go into this: would pay decrease for working adults because of the one less day? Would the amount of kids in private schools decrease dramatically because parents do not want to pay for less school? There would definitely have to be a change in tuition prices for private schools if parents still want parents to send their kids there. But if the tuition rates change, the pay that working adults receive would also have to adjust.
There is also a thought about kids losing learning time: will the kids still get all the information they need in less time? Would we have to make the school year longer?
Another common question is, is now the time to do this? Are students in a good enough spot to where they can miss a day of learning? This worries many, including Karyn Lewis of the research organization NWEA, who states, “whose recent study found students are not making up all the academic ground they lost during the pandemic. “Now is not the time to do anything that threatens the amount of instruction kids are receiving,” she said.
The school districts are using the 4-day week for teacher recruitment. Most teachers would favor this if they still got the same pay, and many southern school districts are using that to their advantage. The teacher would instead go to the school with less work and the same pay than more work and a similar wage. This helps certain counties and districts get more teachers than others.
With all of this being said, what do you think is best?
