Does working four days a week sound desirable to you? If you are an employee, I am guessing it does. If you are a customer wanting goods or services from that company or organization and now have one less day to do it, I am guessing it doesn’t. And if you are an employer, you are likely caught somewhere in the middle. Oh, and if you are retired, you are likely grumbling over how today’s generation doesn’t have the work ethic that yours did.

Like the debate on most subjects, it depends on what chair at the table you are sitting at — or if you are sitting at the table at all. Meanwhile, more school districts in Iowa are considering a four-day school week.

When I first learned of this, I was a bit puzzled, as it seemed to contradict the other often-debated idea of having year-round school. That idea has been floated based on the idea that students apparently lose much of their knowledge during the time off in the summer months and have to spend weeks — or even months — regaining it. As the gap in scholastic testing scores between American children and those in East Asia and Europe who attend school year-round continues to widen, something needs to be done, according to this train of thought.

I am not an educator of children, and I do not fully understand those needs. I am a business man, though, and I do understand the need to satisfy the customer or risk no longer having the funds to operate. The question in the education world is, who is the customer? Is it the children who are being taught? Or the parents who are paying the bill? Or the teachers who are leading the classrooms?

Many in the business world would say the person who is paying the bill is the customer, but my educator friends adamantly disagree with this and say the student should be the only focus. Meanwhile, principals and others who are hiring would say the need to satisfy the teachers is now the priority, as fewer applicants exist, especially in rural areas.

As such, much of the argument for a four-day work week is to help in the recruiting efforts of teachers who apparently desire more time off. Meanwhile, young education graduates are seeking to work at suburban schools where principals continue to have the cream of the crop to choose from, although I am told the applicant pool is decreasing. Rural schools clearly have a tougher row to hoe, though, and some say more time off may be the answer.

I realize the comparison of business and education isn't always fair, and some say it should never be made, but one can’t help but understand the need to focus on putting out a better product or risk being beaten out by those who will. In the case of education, the product is the students. If overall test scores are improving, and our students are among the smartest in the world, then we are doing things right. If the trend is going the other way, then we need to try something different. The answer in how to accomplish that is not simple. Meanwhile, I have yet to see any company, organization or educational institution put out a better product tomorrow by dedicating fewer hours to it today.

Have a terrific Tuesday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman 

President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
www.thedailyumbrella.com

View Shane Goodman's archived columns from past issues here.

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