To Save Money, School Districts Move to Four-Day Week

Since the 2008 recession, there has been a growing number of school districts switching from a five- to four-day week to ease strained budgets. The move is most common in western states. In Colorado, for example, more than half of all school districts now follow a four-day week, in Idaho and New Mexico, it’s around 40 percent, and in Oregon, it’s more than 30 percent. But are fewer days in school hurting children’s academic growth? What about the impact on working families’ child-care needs? Education Week Correspondent Kavitha Cardoza visited the Cobre Consolidated School District in New Mexico, which made the change just before the state declared a moratorium on the practice.