What Do You Think?

By Jerry Xiao

What do you think about a 4 day school week? In fact, a 4 day school week isn't that rare around the nation anymore. Because of the ailing U.S. economy and the soaring prices for fuel, schools around the nation are cutting back on costs in anyway possible. By reducing the school wek to 4 days, school do not have to pay that extra day for the school buses, which could save $50,000 a year. However, to compensate for the missing day, schools are adding 10 minutes to the class times on the other four days. Some schools are even cutting back on electives, saving them an average of $65,000 a year. Montgomery County in Maryland, is cutting back funds to its award winning mathematics club.

Lenelle Cruse, the state PTA president, said that the state budget for education was so tight, that the schools actually had a toilet paper drive. Many schools have stopped ordering new textbooks, making use of the old ones and rebinding ones themselves.

And schools aren't the only people cutting back on costs for education. Many parents are starting to shop conservatively, making their children reuse their backpacks and materials from the year before. Parents were asked to carpool together to the athletic meetings in Paw Paw, Michigan.

If the U.S. economy doesn't pull up soon, who knows how it will affect the rest of the people in the nation.