In trimming school budgets, more officials turn to a four-day week

10-31-2011

By Lyndsey Layton/Washington Post

Pressed for dollars, a growing number of public schools are doing what many educators once considered unimaginable: eliminating an entire school day each week. At least 292 school districts nationwide have a four-day week, according to a Washington Post survey, more than double the 120 estimated two years ago. That’s still a small fraction of the nation’s 15,000 school districts, but it’s one signal that this is shaping up to be a “cliff year” in American education as the evaporation of federal stimulus funds and other fiscal troubles force many schools to make dramatic cuts. In this community just north of the Twin Cities, they already cut the drama club. And cheerleading, ski club and marching band. So many teachers have been laid off that some classrooms have 40 students and one high school guidance counselor juggles 550 students. When school officials couldn’t figure out what else to squeeze, they lopped off a day. (more...)

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