Concerns raised over shortened school weeks

Hundreds of US schools facing teacher shortages are turning to four-day teaching weeks to attract and keep staff. That's causing concern among parents over child-care demands and lower test scores.

More than 1,600 schools across 24 states have a four-day school week, and the trend is growing. At least 800 districts are using four-day school weeks this year, Paul Thompson, a professor at Oregon State University who studies the topic, told The Wall Street Journal.

They are especially popular among smaller districts and west of the Mississippi River, due to varying state instructional time policies and the generally higher-than-average per-pupil costs for smaller districts, Andrea Phillips, a policy researcher at Rand Corp who has studied the subject, told DiveWire, a press release distribution service.