A four-day school week has been advocated as a means of reducing education costs. School days would be longer so as to maintain the same number of hours per week as under the current five-day-a-week system. The main expected cost savings are in school cleaning and maintenance and in school bus operation. The main effects that are anticipated are
(a) Reduced school cleaning and maintenance
(b) Reduced use of school buses on the off-day
(c) Reduced driving to school by parents, students, and staff on the off-day
(d) Reduced public transportation use on the off-day
(e) Increased performance of part-time work by some high school students and school staff for the off-day
(f) Reduced absences of students and staff; this is mainly because some required personal activities could be scheduled for the off-day
(g) Reduced subsidized school lunch requirements
(h) Increased need for day care on the off-day for working parents; about a third of elementary schools could be opened for day care, and the costs would be covered bv fees
(i) Reduced learning by elementary students is possible because of their limited attention spans
(j) Reduced school taxes
Which of these effects are benefits? Mo receives the benefits? Which are costs? Who bears the costs? Which are neither costs nor benefits?