More school districts across the country are banking on a four-day week to save money and alleviate the worsening teacher shortage.
Three-day weekends are a nice recruiting tool, but state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, says Texas schools have been slow to test it out.
"There are significant changes when you shorten the week because you have to lengthen the hours, and not everyone will want that to happen," he says. "But if the community wanted to do it, or wanted to try it out, why would we not let them try it?"
Bettencourt sits on the Senate Committee on Education in Austin.
"There are several states, even California that is bigger than Texas, that have adopted this in certain parts of their state, so it's certainly worth looking into," says Bettencourt.
A rural district outside San Angelo transitioned to a four-day school week in 2016. But any argue while it may work there, urban districts like Houston are too diverse and demanding on families.
"Even if people think it won't work in an urban area, if a rural area in Texas wants to try it out, why should be tell them no? If they want to try it, we should tell them to take a shot at it. That's what we should be doing in the 21st century, is thinking out of the box."