About 1 in 5 of Oklahoma's school districts have switched to a four-day week to deal with budget cuts and recruit quality teachers amid a nationwide teacher shortage and pay crisis, NBC News reported.
"Just because we've been doing it one way for a long time doesn't mean we necessarily need to keep doing it that way," said Dr. Bob Gragg, superintendent of White Rock School in the tiny town of McCloud.
A school district near Denver will this fall become the first large urban district in the United States to shave a day off its schedule. Parents, teachers, administrators and scholars say the shift brings better performance, attendance and morale.
But larger metropolitan areas could see disruptive knock-on effects as parents look for child care and older kids have an extra day in their weekend to tempt them into trouble, critics and education experts say.
Teachers Hold Second Day of Protests
![[NATL] Oklahoma Teachers Hold Second Day of Protests](https://media.nbcnewyork.com/images/620*349/NC_okteacherprotestsday2_1500x845.jpg)
