Labor, in the form of wages and benefits, makes up most of the costs of schooling. Much has been written about wages--especially the idea that we need to make salaries more competitive to attract a stronger labor pool. Analysts pay less attention to benefits, except to bemoan the rising cost of them. But as a portion of labor compensation, we find, benefits are growing faster than salaries. Higher benefits costs mean fewer dollars for other purposes--not just salaries, but also technology, facilities, curricular materials, and more. This analysis examines the per-teacher cost of benefits, both on an annual basis and a weekly basis, relative to costs in other professional industries. Because the work year is shorter in teaching than in other industries, the cost of benefits per week of labor is substantially higher. Some analysts suggest curbing costs by reducing benefits packages. Instead, this report proposes changes to the work year. By increasing the number of weeks in the contracts for instructional staff, school systems could get the most for their benefits dollars, teachers could make more money overall, and students could be given new opportunities for when and how to learn.