Four-day week?

Economic desperation is forcing public employers to make tough choices, e.g. Fort Wayne Community Schools' decision to outsource janitorial services. Some are getting creative, and at least one of the solutions is worth considering here -- the four-day school week:

FORT VALLEY, Ga. — During the school year, Mondays in this rural Georgia community are for video games, trips to grandma's house and hanging out at the neighborhood community center.

Don't bother showing up for school. The doors are locked and the lights are off.

Peach County is one of more than 120 school districts across the country where students attend school just four days a week, a cost-saving tactic gaining popularity among cash-strapped districts struggling to make ends meet. The 4,000-student district started shaving a day off its weekly school calendar last year to help fill a $1 million budget shortfall.

It was that or lay off 39 teachers the week before school started, said Superintendent Susan Clark.

"We're treading water," Clark said as she stood outside the headquarters of her seven-school district. "There was nothing else for us to do."

What's surprising are the results. Test scores went up. So did graduation rates and attendance, both for students and teachers. The four days students are in school are slightly longer and more crowded with classes and activities. After school, students can get tutoring in subjects they're struggling with.

The story includes a cautionary note. There is really only anecdotal evidence about the effects of a four-day week -- research on the subject is slight.