Nearly two-thirds of teachers who applied to the Independence School District the year it switched to a four-day school week said the change was one of their top three priorities.
A study from the Policy Research in Missouri Education Center looked at Independence after it saw a surge in applicants for teaching jobs when it became the largest Missouri district, by far, to switch to a shorter school week.
More than 30% of the state’s districts have a 4-day week, but most are small and in rural areas. The first wave of schools that made the change did so as a cost-saving measure but districts are now using it to compete with each other when they can’t raise salaries.
Jon Turner, the study’s co-author and an associate professor at Missouri State University, said salary was the top priority for people who applied for a teaching position in Independence, but the four-day week closely followed.
“You still have to provide them with a quality salary, especially in a competitive marketplace,” Turner said. “But the four day school week is also very, very attractive to people.”
He sent the survey to 440 certified applicants who applied for positions in the Independence School District between October 2022 and July 2023. Of that number, 10 emails were undeliverable and 139 people completed the survey.
The study has some limitations — for example, the Independence School District may not have hired some applicants who answered the survey. Because they received the survey a year after they applied, participants had to reflect back on their decision.
Applicants cited the four-day week most frequently as their reason to apply to the district, at 27%.
Location was also important for several applicants who lived in or near Independence, while others were looking for new opportunities like their first teaching job or a return to the profession.
Dr. Dale Herl is the district’s superintendent. Herl said the school district saw a 360% increase in applicants, is now fully staffed with teachers and even added 20 more positions.
But he was surprised by findings that 11% of applicants were retired or former educators and some applicants were willing to give up part of their salary in order to work for a school with a shorter week.
A report from the 2023-24 school year found nearly 23% of teacher vacancies were either left vacant or filled by individuals who were not fully certified. The PRiME Center’s report said only 46% of new teachers in Missouri percent remained in the profession after five years.
“If we have a four day week, and others go to it as well, but if we're getting all of these teachers back into the profession, or entering the profession — we don't have a teacher shortage in Missouri,” Herl said.
About 44% said Independence’s adoption of the 4-day week positively influenced their decision to apply for a position, with one applicant citing having an extra day at home to spend with their children.
Herl said teachers were attracted to the work-life balance offered in the shorter schedule, because they have more time with family and to prepare lessons each week.
“I enjoyed my previous district and position. However, my family will always come first. If I can still do my job and have an extra day at home with my babies, it's a no brainer then," an applicant wrote.
Half of respondents said the schedule didn’t influence their decision because they were not aware of it when they applied or had a neutral stance on it. Just 5.5% of applicants expressed concerns about the 4-day week.
"Absolutely not, as an educator, this is not what is best for children," an applicant wrote.
Attracting retired or former teachers
The survey found most applicants were from Independence and the Kansas City area, with a few applicants from across Missouri and out of state.
Turner said he was concerned applicants would come from smaller, rural school districts that paid smaller salaries, but said most were from similar districts to Independence.
More than half of applicants were employed by another Missouri public school district, 11% were employed by a public school district in another state and nearly a third were not employed as educators. Turner said many people with a teaching degree work in the private sector.
Missouri requires students to be in classrooms for a certain amount of hours each school year, but Turner said even with teachers in front of students for the same amount of time, the four-day school week is attractive.
“When you're looking at such a tight marketplace, when we're all struggling to hire quality teachers, having people that are willing to switch school districts are willing to come even from out of state, or come out of retirement, or come back into education… that's extremely interesting,” Turner said.
If given two similar job offers from different districts, 61% of applicants said a four-day schedule would make them much more willing to accept a job offer. When asked if a four-day week would make them more likely to remain at their current position, 79% agreed or somewhat agreed that it would make them more likely to stay.
The four-day week ‘is a symptom’ of other education challenges
The State Board of Education formed a commission to find solutions to the state’s struggle with teacher recruitment and retention. Educators cited pay, as well as schools’ culture and climate.
Turner said superintendents in rural areas are looking to improve those factors to attract more teachers, but have limited resources.
Missouri spends the second-least in the nation on public schools, so districts rely heavily on local sources like property taxes to fund classrooms.
“The four day week is a symptom of other challenges we see in education, and a huge part of that is the pay inequity between rural school teachers and those that are in suburban and urban areas,” Turner said.
‘Could we lose a quarter of our teachers?’
Missouri lawmakers last session required larger school districts get voter approval to implement a four-day week. Independence will need it by the 2026-2027 school year in order to continue.
The shortened week drew scrutiny from lawmakers who worried about families who don’t have child care on the extra day off and constituents who didn’t feel their voice was heard when the school district made the switch.
Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick launched an unprompted audit into the Independence School District in May because of its four-day school week and because it’s one of the state’s larger school districts.
Herl said going to a vote in Independence keeps him up at night. He said when teachers see him in schools, they ask him if the four-day week is ending, and tell him they’ll likely look for a job in another district if it does.
“Could we lose a quarter of our teachers to other districts, or they completely leave the profession?” Herl said. “I think absolutely that could happen.”
Herl said the district wants to provide competitive raises and salaries, but in order to do so he said the state needs to fully fund education and help attract more people to the profession.
Schools districts considering a four-day week are now waiting to see how the vote plays out in Independence, Turner said. He said at least one school district in the St. Louis region decided to delay their decision because of the new legislation.
“There's gonna be a lot of people watching Independence in their election up there to see how it goes before they'll decide whether they want to pursue it or not,” Turner said.
