- ‹ previous
- 2656 of 8902
- next ›
Four-Day School Weeks: For Real Now
About a month ago, I wrote that a handful of school districts—due to rising fuel costs—said they could save thousands of dollars in school bus fuel by switching to four-day school weeks. Apparently things have really ramped up since then.
A recent survey says that 1 in 7 school boards nationwide are considering whether to drop a day off the normal five-day school week. About half surveyed said they were planning to cut out field trips, and more than 30% said they were consolidating or eliminating bus routes.
We've been down this road before. During the oil crisis of the 1970s about 100 districts implemented a four-day week also. One small study in Florida in 1973 found that half the students preferred it (Heck yeah: three-day weekends!).
But gas prices aren't the only issue: a shaky economy and some state budge woes led some districts to switch to a four-day week as many as four years ago.
Whatever who said that America will be defeated only from within was obsolutely RIGHT.what's more important to the young generations in America other than education ?
the children of today,will be the leaders of the future but from what I see from the leaders of today I can tell
the 4 days of school is nothing new because it seems to me they didn't really have real education.Obviously,you don'd need much education to run the country to the ground.
The problem with 4-day school weeks is that this will throw a huge monkey wrench into child care plans. A great many working parents depend on the school for child care. Being a 7-year-old latchkey kid from 3:15 to 5:30 p.m. is one thing; being a 7-year-old latchkey kid all day is another.
I wish this were a joke! Let the kids WALK to school and increase the length of the school year.What an under-educated country we already are. And to think they will be even LESS educated. This is an abomination!
["Let the kids WALK to school ..."]
OK for city folks.
I grew up one, and I preferred to walk to school, even though I could have taken a bus (filled with a-holes I didn't want to listen to for 40 minutes).
For my kids, this would mean a 14 mile hike through some pretty rough terrain.
Too bad we closed down most of the smaller communities' schools and 'consolidated' them all over the last 30 years. Otherwise, even out here in the boonies, many of the kids could still walk to school.
The current school schedule, w/ summers off, was created back when the US was more of an agricultural country. Families who need their children home during the summers, to work on the family farm, are few nowadays.
So, why not keep the 5 day school week, but move break from summer to winter? By going during the summertime, schools would save on heating fuel. If necessary, additional bus routes could be cut, as students would be able to walk or bike to school on most days.---From a safety standpoint, less wintertime driving also means greater safety.--- Finally, depending on the architecture & design of the schools, some classrooms could even go most of the day without overhead lighting, as sunlight may be sufficient in some instances. In my house, I only turn the lights on after dinnertime. Even on overcast days, I seldom turn on the lights unless I'm reading or doing other closeup work.
This seems a practical idea to me, but I'm sure it wouldn't be very popular as Americans have become accustomed to the summertime vacation.
The USA is already behind many foreign countries in educational attainment. At a time when education is more important to our children than previous times, how will reducing the length of time kids are in school help?
My impression was that time in school would not actually decrease as days would be longer and perhaps vacations slightly shorter. I could be wrong though. As for why kids in America are not getting the education they should be getting, that doesn't have to do with how much time is spent in school but rather what is going on while they are there. The increasing pressure to "teach to the test" where only a narrow range of curriculum is taught (and that is determined by what is on standardized tests) is most troubling. I do think the biggest problem with this plan is the child care issue.
With gangs being a problem in many places giving kids more time outside supervised education seems like a really dumb idea.
Thats the damn truth!