4 day vs 5 day school week.

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Bad move. I went to school 6 days a week.

... and walked to school in the snow, uphill both ways without a coat.

 

[surada]

... and walked to school in the snow, uphill both ways without a coat.

The Fall session went to school six days a week. The winter session went 5days starting an hour earlier and having classes until 7 PM. From 1-4 we went skiing.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Thats on the childcare industry.
In a lot of cases the wife or husband is better off not working due to the cost of childcare.

which is why the labor force participation rate has stayed down after COVID. More are doing this

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Do you really think kids will get the same amount of instruction, i.e., learning in 4 days against 5? Will they be in school at 10 hours a day over 4 days rather than 8 hours a day over 5? I think not. And school is more than just academics, it's also social, how to deal with others. I do not believe kids will be better off in the long run with a 4-day school week.

There is a lot of wasted time not spent on instruction that could be removed. Some how college students manage with most, if not all of their classes being Mon-Thur.

 

[Moonglow]

Not only that it prepares them for the real world where most people work a five day work week.

Five days a week of work sucks and you know it.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

which is why the labor force participation rate has stayed down after COVID. More are doing this

Nah..it's been that way long before covide.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Five days a week of work sucks and you know it.

Nah...you're just lazy.

 

[Dekster]

That's all we need, dumber kids. What we have here is a case where the teachers' well-being today means more than the future well-being of our kids. It is a sad thing to see, but too many times this country shows more concern for ourselves right now than we do for future generations.

These are small rural schools. You aren't going to be getting the next generation of MIT professors out of them to begin with. Maybe 4 days instead of 5 allows them more time to work on the farm or mow the grass or do something relaxing.

 

[task0778]

There is a lot of wasted time not spent on instruction that could be removed.

And you think going to 4 days will change that?

Some how college students manage with most, if not all of their classes being Mon-Thur.

College kids are 18 or older, they've gotta learn time management among other things. Most semesters, a full-time college student only spends somewhere around 12-15 hours a week in class, do you want to declare that kids from elementary school on up to high school can do that?

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

These are small rural schools. You aren't going to be getting the next generation of MIT professors out of them to begin with. Maybe 4 days instead of 5 allows them more time to work on the farm or mow the grass or do something relaxing.

My Wife came from a town with 400 people in it and got a scholarship to Princeton.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Nah..it's been that way long before covide.

But more then ever are staying home after COVID due to the increased cost of child care.

 

[task0778]

which is why the labor force participation rate has stayed down after COVID. More are doing this

Linky?

Child care costs may be a reason, but I think it's a stretch to claim it's the only reason or even a major reason.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Linky?

Child care costs may be a reason, but I think it's a stretch to claim it's the only reason or even a major reason.

That and a combination of an aging population with a higher percent of people retired.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/famee.pdf

The labor force participation rate—the percent of the population working or looking for work—for all mothers with children under age 18 was 71.2 percent in 2021, unchanged from the prior year but down from 72.3 percent in 2019.

Amid the pandemic, a rising share of older U.S. adults are now retired

As of the third quarter of 2021, 50.3% of U.S. adults 55 and older said they were out of the labor force due to retirement.

www.pewresearch.org

As of the third quarter of 2021, 50.3% of U.S. adults 55 and older said they were out of the labor force due to retirement, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the most recent official labor force data. In the third quarter of 2019, before the onset of the pandemic, 48.1% of those adults were retired

 

[there4eyeM]

A bad idea is having to heat schools in the winter, have everyone getting up in the dark in winter, bus kids on icy roads in the winter and then have months off of empty buildings and free lighting going to waste.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

But more then ever are staying home after COVID due to the increased cost of child care.

Do you have a link to show the increased cost.

 

[Papageorgio]

Bad move. I went to school 6 days a week.

There’s proof that a six day school week won’t help at all.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

That and a combination of an aging population with a higher percent of people retired.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/famee.pdf

The labor force participation rate—the percent of the population working or looking for work—for all mothers with children under age 18 was 71.2 percent in 2021, unchanged from the prior year but down from 72.3 percent in 2019.

Amid the pandemic, a rising share of older U.S. adults are now retired

As of the third quarter of 2021, 50.3% of U.S. adults 55 and older said they were out of the labor force due to retirement.

www.pewresearch.org

As of the third quarter of 2021, 50.3% of U.S. adults 55 and older said they were out of the labor force due to retirement, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the most recent official labor force data. In the third quarter of 2019, before the onset of the pandemic, 48.1% of those adults were retired

I dont see how that applies to childcare.

 

[initforme]

Local boards can make the decision. This is an easy one.

 

[task0778]

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/famee.pdf

The labor force participation rate—the percent of the population working or looking for work—for all mothers with children under age 18 was 71.2 percent in 2021, unchanged from the prior year but down from 72.3 percent in 2019.

I didn't see any mention of the costs of child-care in your link. And I suspect a significant portion of the decline in the labor force participation rate for all mothers with children under age 18 between 2019 and 2021 might have been the lockdowns and school closures. The costs for child-care did go up precipitously but then there are a large number of families who weren't paying for child-care anyway, so that increase didn't really matter to them.

"The number of children under age 14 in paid childcare declined from 12.2 million in 2019 to 10 million in 2020, a decrease of 18%. At the same time, more parents began working from home. About 16.7% of all children 14 and younger were enrolled in paid childcare services in 2020."

"About 25% of families with children pay for childcare as of 2021."

How much are families spending on childcare? - USAFacts

Families with children no longer have an expanded child tax credit to help pay for the cost of care.

usafacts.org

So, was the decline in that rate due to higher costs of child-care? I don't think so.

Back to the thread now, for the families who do not pay for child-care, if the school week is changed to 4 days instead of 5, what're they going to do for the one day of the week when the kids aren't in school? No problem for the families that are already paying for child-care, they drop the kids off at the day-care and go to work or wherever. But what about everybody else? You've just added to the parents' burden for that one day a week their kids aren't in school.

IMHO, changing the school week from 5 days to 4 is not in the best interests of the kids or their parents. Instead, it is the best interests of the teachers, who very well may be overworked and stressed out. But I don't think this change is the right answer.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

I dont see how that applies to childcare.

You do not see how a parent with children choosing not work could be due to the cost of childcare?

Really?