Editorials from across South Carolina: four-day school week, Joe Wilson’s gun views

4-day school week

Just as school district consolidation is touted as a way to save dollars for public education, the concept of moving to a four-day school week is getting more attention around the country.

The change involves giving teachers and students a day off on Fridays. According to the National Conference of State Legislators, approximately 560 districts in 25 states have one or more schools on a four-day schedule.

The change is seen as particularly appealing to rural school districts that require lots of travel by students and teachers. But is it really beneficial?…

Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens, is not convinced either. He cites the change as harmful for low-income parents relying on subsidized school breakfasts and lunches. The Department of Agriculture says more than half of the nation’s high-poverty schools offer breakfasts and lunches to students at no cost.

The benefits of the four-day school week accrue principally to stay-at-home parents and teachers, Weber said. “They would not outweigh the disadvantages for students and households where both parents work.”

The bottom line is there is a lack of evidence that a four-day school week with longer days leads to fiscal savings and/or improved student achievement.

The National Education Policy Center’s conclusion is on target: Schools should focus on what teachers do with the time allotted instead of how much time they have overall.

Joe Wilson’s gun views

It would be silly to fault U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who appeared in the premiere episode of Mr. Cohen’s new show “Who is America?” on Sunday, for falling for a noted prankster’s tricks. But it is decidedly less silly to be somewhat concerned by what Mr. Wilson appeared to heartily endorse on the show.

The centerpiece of Sunday’s episode was a bit in which Mr. Cohen played an Israeli anti-terror expert named Erran Morad. Several public officials and gun rights advocates endorsed Mr. Morad’s outlandish “Kinderguardians” program as a solution to school shootings.

Why arm teachers, the pitch went, when students as young as 3 years old could be trained to defend themselves against armed intruders? (But no younger than 3, of course, because “they call them the terrible twos for a reason,” joked Mr. Cohen in the episode.)

Obviously, such a plan would be ridiculous – not to mention dangerous. That’s the whole point of the joke. But Rep. Wilson, who said on Tuesday he was just reading a script the show’s producers gave him, went along with it.

“A 3-year-old cannot defend itself from an assault rifle by throwing a Hello Kitty pencil case at it,” said Mr. Wilson. “Our founding fathers did not put an age limit on the Second Amendment.” …

Mr. Wilson’s apparent willingness to go along with a clearly ludicrous proposal is less troubling than the extent to which such an absurd policy idea seems mundane in this era of heightened polarization and diminished appreciation for what has otherwise long been considered obvious common sense.