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Saturday, January 9, 2010

Class Struggle - Stop the two-hour snow delays

Class Struggle- Stop the two-hour snow delays:


"Stop the two-hour snow delays

Read the opposite side of this debate, from Answer Sheet blogger Valerie Strauss, by clicking here.

I know I'm not going to get my way on this. The lawyers are against me and others who share this view. Nobody beats the lawyers, or the parents who will worry no matter what the actual risk. But maybe in some future era, when we all walk around in magic padding that reduces chance of injury to zero, the legal profession will see a way to save schools from wasting a lot of precious time.

There were one or two inches of snow in my yard today, and on the street outside. It wasn't plowed. We are usually last on the list. But the car got out of our usually tricky slanted driveway with no trouble. So why were school openings in my district, and most others around here, delayed for two hours?"





Tread carefully when snow flies

Read the opposite side of this debate, from Class Struggle blogger Jay Mathews, by clicking here.

A few words to those parents who are griping because their kid’s school opened late this morning or was closed for the day: Knock it off.
It has become almost a sport among people I know to complain every time the weather turns lousy and school system officials decide that conditions are severe enough to alter the regular school routine.
“The snow barely touched the ground,” you might hear.
“It was only a dusting.”
“They are such wimps. Washington doesn’t know how to handle snow. You should see how they do it in Pittsburgh.”
Or New York. Or any place that is not Washington.
Enough already, folks.