Today Is the Worst Day to Be a New York City Public School Kid
Washington D.C. has shut down, thousands of flights have been canceled, and a number of states have declared a state of emergency in the wake of this brutal storm. Yet, New York City's public school kids are going to school today. And it gets worse: their prissy private school counterparts have a snow day too.
.Washington D.C. has shut down, thousands of flights have been canceled, and a number of states have declared a state of emergency in the wake of this brutal storm. Yet, New York City's public school kids are going to school today. In keeping with its tradition of being stingy with snow days, the New York City Department of Education, decided to keep its schools open in spite of storm which is supposed to bring at least 10" of snow into the city:
Chancellor Fariña announces schools are open tomorrow, all field trips cancelled http://t.co/nR1pGrdiYP
— NYC Public Schools (@NYCSchools) February 13, 2014One of the most cathartic things I found while working from home this morning is living vicariously through angry New York City kids who have to go to school today. Some were blunt:
bitch. @NYCSchools
— ℐenn was here... (@JennIsLovex3) February 13, 2014Other were more blunt:
@NYCSchools Are you tryna fight ..
— My Key (@oohitsmikey) February 13, 2014Okay, fine, all of them were blunt and fuming:
@NYCSchools THIS IS WHY NO ONE LIKES YOU FUCKING PIECES OF SHIT I CANT BELIEVE THIS BULLSHIT
— tashie (@chereharry) February 13, 2014 NYC private schools usually follow NYC public schools on closings. Today, a decoupling -- public schools open; Trinity, Dalton, etc. closed.
— Peter Lattman (@peterlattman) February 13, 2014There's also a bigger issue here, and actually a worthwhile argument that goes above kids complaining. Since getting to school might be such an effort and may be dangerous (icy roads and all), lots of kids stay home anyway. And that might mean that those kids will be getting behind in school work. The Atlantic cited a Harvard study just the other day that snow days don't really hurt student achievement.
Since 1978, NYC public schools have only shut down nine times due to the weather. The ninth occurrence happened in January when the first blizzard of the New Year struck. Before then schools were closed in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy ripped through the city.