Anonymous wrote:I agree with OP. It's no more dangerous for teachers to be on the road than everybody else who has to go to work. Everyone else goes, in every other city, except federal workers in DC. The public schools close because of busing, which does not apply to private preschools or daycares (if it does, they can close on an individual basis). Or, if teachers, and federal workers, are getting a free day off, we all should. And McDonald's, Gymboree, gas stations, 7-11, will all be closed, too. But why does daycare close so those low-paid teachers don't have to pay for backup childcare, which forces other working-class parents ( health workers, retail, non-federal secretaries) to pay for backup care, or take a vacation day or unpaid day off? Not everyone who uses daycare is taking it in.
Certainly in other cities, health workers and emergency workers work in bad weather conditions, but other businesses do close for weather, even in other cities. Actually, I think it makes everything easier in DC to have a large central employer that others can follow, rather than most businesses having to make their own decisions.
McDonald's, Gymboree, etc. do all close if the roads are too bad to get there. And it seems that in some parts of the 400 miles that make up Fairfax County, some roads are still to bad to get there. The county needs to break up, or at least the school district. It's just too big.