When discussing school calendars with other parents I know, it’s difficult not to sound like a cranky old guy. “Am I the only one who feels like kids have so many days off?” I never had that many days off when I was a youngster! I also had to work in a coal mine after that!” I know how I sound, but I can’t help it.

Summer break in Georgia, where I live, is shorter than in other regions of the nation. However, my children had a complete week off for Thanksgiving, a week in September, two weeks for Christmas, a week off in February, and a weeklong spring break. They have asynchronous days (where they finish homework at home for around 30 minutes) once a month and two or three half-day weeks throughout the year. To be honest, it feels like they’re never at school for long before getting a break, making it difficult to establish a routine with a job and professional ambitions. In addition, we are continually planning day camps and other childcare choices for our time off. After conducting a brief investigation, I discovered that American children had fewer school days than children in most other large nations.

So it piqued my interest when I learned that Whitney Independent School District in Texas has just opted to implement a four-day week beginning in the 2025 school year. This makes it one of dozens of school districts in Texas, and over 900 around the country are making the transition.

The idea of having the kids home from school every Friday or Monday makes me want to break out in stress hives, but the four-day school week trend isn’t intended to cause parents headaches. It is intended to persuade instructors to return to work.

Yes, teachers are quitting the field in droves, and recent graduates do not appear eager to replace them. Why? For starters, the remuneration is inadequate—but this is only the beginning. Teachers are worn out, constantly undermined and chastised, held prisoner by standardized testing, and so on. It may be an exhausting, discouraging, and thankless profession. Teachers’ love and enthusiasm for influencing the future of children can only be so strong when they constantly feel undervalued.

In principle, school districts want to pay their teachers more, but they frequently find themselves with limited options. So they’re getting inventive to attract the next generation of instructors to their schools, beginning with one extra day off each week for planning, catch-up, or family time.

Teachers in four-day districts frequently enjoy the new schedule. It is clearly popular among children. The parents, on the whole, are not delighted.

So far, the research suggests that the abbreviated schedule bonus is effective. In these districts, teacher job applications are up, retirements are down, and teachers report greater mental health. That’s excellent news!

But these favorable improvements may come at the expense of working parents in the communities. The majority of early adopters of the four-day week were from rural areas with a large proportion of stay-at-home parents. As the notion spreads across the country, it faces increased opposition. Discussions on Reddit, Facebook, and other social media sites are rife with speculation about how everything will turn out. To be honest, some parents seem to embrace the notion! If they remain at home or have a lot of flexibility, they see it as a chance to spend more time with their family. Many people, however, are apprehensive. Here’s what’s making those parents worried:

The impact on student success is yet uncertain.

The execution of the four-day week differs per district. Some schools prolong each of the four days, resulting in the same total teaching time. Teachers report that pupils become fatigued and disruptive by late afternoon, resulting in a long day. Some districts are just providing less instructional time overall, which has parents anxious that their children may lag behind.

Four-day school weeks place parents in a daycare dilemma.

With the rising expense of living, having two working parents has become more popular and important. I know, “School isn’t daycare!” But it is the secure, dependable, and educational environment in which we send our children while we work.

Families with more money and resources may be able to enroll their children in more academics, extracurricular activities, sports, or daycare, but many ordinary families will not be able to afford it. Some schools that operate on a four-day week provide paid childcare on the day off, but this comes at an additional cost and is simply not feasible for families with numerous children enrolled in the school system.

This will obviously lead to some children receiving far greater screen time.

With most parents still working five-day weeks and the expense of extracurricular activities or daycare being prohibitively expensive, many children will spend their days off lounging on the sofa with their iPad. I’m not an expert, and I’m not opposed to screentime, but adding an additional several hours to a child’s week seems less than optimal.

Of course, there are other possibilities beyond paid daycare and iPads. There are playdates, and aid is available from family and friends. For parents who are already overburdened, arranging all of these possibilities is a monumental task.

Working four days a week is obviously a plus for instructors, since it makes the profession more enticing. However, it does not address the structural challenges that are causing people to resign, retire early, or abandon their goals of teaching altogether.

Shorter timetables, according to Missouri’s Commissioner of Education, are merely a temporary solution with diminishing benefits. Having an extra preparation day will not protect teachers from being scapegoated by politicians or subjected to unattainable curricular requirements, nor will it prevent them from having to buy their own supplies or cope with ever-worsening student conduct.

Some teachers and other experts have proposed a modified five-day school week, with one of the days designated as a teacher planning day while kids continue to participate in clubs, music, and art—you know, all of the things that have been reduced in recent years. Something like that may work in some situations.

As a father, I don’t mind giving my active children an extra day off to relax, explore hobbies, meet friends, catch up on projects, or spend time together. And I’m all for anything that relieves strain on overburdened teachers. However, unless we establish a four-day workweek as the norm, the four-day school week will always feel out of place.