Rural schools adopt four-day week to help recruit teachers

Maps by the Columbia Missourian, part of the Missouri Business Alert consortium

Rural school districts in Missouri are rapidly adopting a four-day week for classes, saying it helps them recruit badly needed teachers, reports DC Benincasa of Missouri Business Alert.

Since 2010, 119 Missouri districts have switched to the four-day week, and at least 18 more are planning to in the next academic year, "adding up to 25% of all districts in Missouri," Benincasa reports. "Some experts argue the policy won’t be enough to solve a teacher shortage problem. . . . The state ranks second to last in the country in teachers’ average starting salary of $33,234 a year, according to a report from the National Education Association."

Last month, the legislature raised the pay to $38,000. "The state is slated to pay for 70% of the wage increase with local funds making up the rest," Benincasa notes. Missouri State University professor Jon Turner "said rural communities might struggle to raise the funds because they don’t have the business-tax revenue that other areas in the state have."

Rural schools face other obstacles recruiting teachers. Sarah Low, a professor of regional economics at the University of Missouri, "said the number of businesses in rural Missouri have shrunk because of significant population declines in rural areas," Benincasa reports. "When there are fewer businesses in rural areas, it makes it harder to find a job if you’re the spouse of a teacher. Low also said while rural areas often provide enough housing to meet demand, the quality of housing isn’t high enough to attract white-collar professionals. ... Missouri’s rural communities also often don’t have the gathering places and opportunities for social interaction compared to suburban and urban areas."

Ellen Weimer, a high-school math teacher in Keytesville, which went to a four-day week in 2019, told Benincasa that was a big reason she's there: “The extra day has been so beneficial for me to work on all the things that a seasoned teacher doesn’t have to do as much because they’re used to it.”