A Day Without Brains
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
March 6, 2017
With practically no workable notice – less than 48 hours –
Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) have inconvenienced parents, possibly
costing them a day’s pay while teachers participate in something called “A Day
Without Women.”
It should be called “A Day Without Brains.”
Some 15,200 students, attending 16 Alexandria, VA schools,
lose a day of instruction as all ACPS will be closed to satisfy the whims of
irresponsible adults. ACPS claims it did not make this decision lightly, but
they certainly did not take working parents into consideration. “This was not a
political decision,” said ACPS spokeswoman Helen Lloyd. “This is about the
safety of our students and our ability to deliver instruction to them,” she
added.
Safety? ACPS is turning 15,200 children loose on the city
streets of Alexandria with this irresponsibly last minute decision affecting
the schedules of many more thousands of people – working parents, siblings
attending non-ACPS schools.
Nor is the decision egalitarian with regard to all ACPS
staff, as six city schools will be open for two hours – one each for breakfast
and lunch. Clearly not all women can participate in this silliness.
How will students with working parents get to school? Are
the school busses running back and forth for both meal services? Will ACPS
reimburse working parents’ lost wages for those who do not have appropriate
care for their children and end up missing work on Wednesday?
Elsewhere in the region, sensibility rules the day. DC
schools, Prince George’s County in Maryland, as well as Fairfax and Loudoun
counties in Virginia will operate business as usual.
Every teacher without a doctor’s notice for March 8th
should lose a day’s pay. The residents of Alexandria should not have their
property taxes wasted on the foolishness of people who put themselves first and
not the children for which they have a responsibility to educate. The students
of Alexandria have learned a valuable lesson while out of school – who’s not
looking out for them.
Sanford D. Horn is
a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He was a one-time candidate for
the Alexandria School Board.
