Furlough Friday

Well today is another furlough Friday for our kids here in Hawaii. So far they haven't been able to work this issue out. It's now affecting the military as you can see here in this article called: Furlough's Hurt Military Views of Hawaii schools. The kids here have been on a 4 day week since Oct. with Friday's off due to financial problems within the state. So far they have not worked this issue out. We are lucky. My kids principal decided to keep the kids, all four days, an hour later in school so that they could have the extra 4 hours a week to make up for some of the 7 hours they will miss by not being in school on Fridays. She also makes the teacher's send home packets of homework consisting of enough material to cover the other 3 hours they will miss due to school closure on Friday. It's funny because I don't actually love the furloughs because they cut out some of the education my children should be entitled to, yet I find all 3 boys, especially my 10 year old Damian, seem to be absorbing more information at a faster rate then before. The teachers have noticed this too. I asked my son and he says having the extra hour keeps him on track and knowing the week is over so soon keeps him motivated. In Japan they go to school for much longer days but I don't know if they get a 3 day weekend. I'm wondering if furloughs may have some benefit if not a whole lot. Given the choice though I still think I want my kids in school for at least 5 days a week if possible. We are moving this summer but I really hope Hawaii resolves this because there are many families here that have children in an already substandard school system and this, to me, is not fair.