-By Warner Todd Huston
Adding yet another chapter in that ever growing book The Decline and Fall of American Education now being written by our teacher’s unions and failed administrations nation wide, Pittsburgh Public Schools will be delayed two hours this Monday. It is assumed, it appears, that teachers will be too tired to make it in on time because of partying for the Superbowl the night before. It is also obviously assumed that parents will be irresponsible enough to allow their kids to stay up past bedtime for a mere football game.
Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt has announced the 2 hour delay noting that it is being implemented as a “safety precaution,” whatever that is supposed to mean? For its part, the teachers union said that these delays in the past, usually initiated because of foul weather, have only applied to students and not teachers. This time, though, it applies to the teachers and staff, too. Why? Well, it’s a union payback for that one day they all came to school even though foul weather made the administration cancel school that day, of course.
According to the union Web site, the PFT workers’ inclusion in Monday’s delay is a “makeup” for the inconvenience some experienced Dec. 22, when the district initially called a two-hour weather delay and then canceled school. By that time, the union said, many employees were already at work.
These people call themselves educators? So what are they teaching with this foolishness?
- A game is far more important than school
- Teachers only care about what they can get out of their jobs, who cares about the kids?
- Obligations are not important when it gets in the way of fun
- Comfort is more important than duty
Nice going, Pittsburgh.
It’s bad enough something as ridiculous as a game is being used to alter the schedule of the school day, but the fake reason being given is also a crime. Seriously, what the heck do “safety precautions” have to do with a sports event? How do we get a “safety precaution” out of parents being irresponsible enough to allow their children to stay up well past bedtime and to sleep in late the next day? How do we see the need to act with “precaution” over shirking responsibility because of a silly kid’s game?
Unfortunately, this is yet another example of the downgrading of society. When the Superbowl is more important than school, we really have strayed far from the right path.
____________
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, Human Events Magazine, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
Fair Use: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research, educational, or satirical purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site/blog for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.