Economic crunches have caused many cuts across the nation. In the latest of these attempts to cut extra spending, Hawaii school districts are switching to 4-day school days with Fridays off. This has caused problems for parents and some fear that it could result in problems down the road with students as well.

School districts in our island state have been forced to lay off teachers or put them on furlough. They also reduced their paychecks and number of planning days. These cuts in spending have now progressed to cutting school days. Hawaii just finished the first of these short weeks, with students having off Friday, October 23. Already, school districts are facing criticism from worried parents.

Hawaii is already ranked 46th in the nation in academics in their K-12 program, according to a 2009 study done by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. These additional cuts in schooling are expected to make waves. Parents who are concerned with the low academic scores have even more issues with less time devoted to education. Additional concerns stem from the short notification of this change and the scramble for childcare for younger students. Parents of young children will now have to spend more money on childcare per week than previously planned. Students with special needs also face issues and their parents are looking into suing the state. However, single moms and poor families are expected to suffer the most.

Most of the concern about the Hawaii school situation centers on the shorter school weeks and the fear that cutting educational time will also cut knowledge. Personally, I don’t feel that shorter school weeks necessarily equal poorly educated students. Teachers will have to work harder to make their shorter time with students more meaningful. This may be the real issue. Teachers who are already suffering from lower wages, threat of being laid off and less days for planning are now forced to crunch in more information in the little time that they are given. The demand on them is high. These teachers cannot be expected to go the extra mile for education if the education system is not willing to repay them for these efforts.

The school situation in Hawaii needs to improve, as evidenced by their academic ranking. Their economic status is also apparently in shambles. They need to spend less. But, will spending less really help out in the long run? It may save the school districts and the state money. But, someone will have to pay for these short-term savings. The payment is coming in the short-term from parents who have to spend even more on childcare, from money that many of them don’t have. In the long-term, the students will have to deal with the effects of not only less hours learning, but also overworked and underpaid teachers.