In his editorial this morning, Opinion Editor Marty Trillhaase of the Lewiston Tribune points out that no one in high places in Idaho is raising questions re: the four-day school week that now is engulfing 9% of Idaho's school-age children:

In 2006, 10 Idaho school districts and two charter schools placed close to 8,200 students on a four-day week. Thanks to former Gov. - and now U.S. Sen. - Jim Risch's meddling, schools lost stable property tax support just as the Great Recession made state revenues wobbly. Idaho public education has yet to recover. So the list of school systems hoping to save a few dollars by converting to a four-day week expanded to 43 of Idaho's 115 school districts. Virtually all are rural. Among them are Culdesac, Highland, Orofino and Salmon River. Also included are nine charter schools. Attending those schools are 26,881 students - or 9.1 percent of Idaho's student body. That's a larger enrollment - and a higher percentage of the overall student population - than found in any of Idaho's neighboring states. More here.

Question: I see stories like this and remain grateful that my children got through the school system before it was -- fatally? -- damaged by the shift of school M&O to the sales tax in 1996, the recession, and the continued underfunding of the Otter administration. Thoughts?