(That's how I always start a "rant" off to my sister and Goldilocks when I must get something off my chest)
Can I just say???????????
Our president spoke this morning about the school closings in Washington.
Mr. Obama stated, "Because of what? Some ice? . . . We're going to have to apply some flinty Chicago toughness to this town."
As a former public school teacher, I am more than a little peeved at his comments.
Dear Mr. President...........here are some questions for you.
Do you have ANY idea how many people have to be at a school in order for the doors to open?
A decision to close a school is based not only on the "opening bell" time, but on the ability of all the support staff and people behind the scenes to safely arrive at their destinations. They must start the whole process HOURS before the kids actually arrive in class.
The cafeteria workers have to get there long before the kids to open the kitchen and make the breakfast for those kiddos that have parents who don't seem to think that's a priority. (I taught PreK......don't get me started on the whole breakfast thing..........don't EVEN get me started!)
(Anyone remember "Sloppy Joe....Sloppy Sloppy Joe......." from Adam Sandler's "Lunch Lady" song?? I miss you, Chris Farley)
The janitors have to get there long before the kids to open the building and prepare it for the day.
The bus drivers have to figure out how to maneuver a
(You see, Mr. President, a VAST majority of kids get to school by way of bus.............not by way of chauffeured Lincolns with secret service men.)
Do you have any idea how much school officials angst over this decision?---a decision that has to be made in the wee early morning hours based on looking into a crystal ball to try and GUESS what the next 6 hours will bring?
A decision that can cause them HUNDREDS of pissy irate phone calls down the line when Little Johnny's mom calls to complain that he will be counted absent on the inclement weather make up day that Spring because it cuts into their already scheduled vacation plans.
SCHOOL: "Mrs. Little Johnny, we aren't telling you you can't take him on vacation, we are just telling you he will be marked absent."
MRS. JOHNNY: "But he wants the Perfect Attendance sticker/prize/free happy meal coupon that he has been earning all year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
So sorry Mrs. Johnny, there isn't a prize for "Almost-Perfect-Attendance".......we'll suggest that at the next school board meeting.
(by the way....teacher's have always noticed the DIRECT correlation between the "perfect attendance" and "little Johnnies"............poorly behaved children are RARELY absent.)
Not to mention the fact that private schools making this decision have a much easier time deciding whether making-up days will be necessary.............they aren't under the same State and National regulations for the required number of instructional days in order to get Educational funding!
I know, I know, I know, I can hear you now.........."Snow White, darling.....you need to chill out...he was just making a joke....get over it!"
I just don't think you should be "dissing" your new turf's decisions when you have only lived there EIGHT DAYS! EIGHT DAYS! He's still technically a tourist in that place!
Being the President means you just can't SAY stuff like that! You must THINK before you speak to a gabillion cameras, Barry!
If Chicago is so great with all their "flinty toughness"............maybe you need to return........so your girls can go to school every day.
I have some HOPES of my own today concerning school closings and the administrators in the positions to make the call on cancellations................
I HOPE that everyone got to work safely today.
I HOPE that no bus driver had drive on tricky ice with a busload of screaming kids today.
I HOPE that Little Johnny doesn't slip on black ice today or his mother will sue the school district.
Moral of the story: The school districts are just making the decisions based on what they think is the SAFEST for the kids. You do your President thang and let them do their school thang.
(By the way.......I didn't think of that catchy title about walking on water.......I read it off of a comment from "nog45"on a political blog.....I loved it so much, I couldn't resist. It made me laugh.)
Okay..........I'm done..........I feel better now. Sorry you had to hear that.
OOOPS! ....I lied....just one more thing:
FOOTNOTE! Here is what the Associate Head of School had to say about it: (This is from The Washington Post website)
"At Sidwell Friends, Associate Head of School Ellis Turner replied to the president's challenge in an e-mail to The Washington Post.
"No question, the president is right," Turner wrote. "The next time it snows, we would like to invite him to help us make the decision. His involvement will make it much easier to explain to our students why they won't be able to spend the day sleeping and sledding."
Turner added a tongue-in-cheek reference to the president's school-age years in the Pacific islands: "Or, I suppose Sidwell Friends could merge with Punahou, move our classrooms to Hawaii and never worry about the weather again."
