The COVID-19 pandemic just won’t go away, and its impacts on society will be with Americans for decades. This week, the nation learned of the pandemic’s newest victims: snow days at New York City public schools.
New York’s Department of Education Chancellor, David Banks, told a local morning show on WNYW that remote technology used during the pandemic is enabling the district to continue teaching even when the weather outside is frightful.
New York City’s public schools first sacked snow days in 2020, continued the policy last year and are now making it permanent.
Students in New York are required to receive 180 days of instruction, and snow days have to be made up at the end of the school year.
Now, instead of sleeping in, watching the Price is Right and going sledding on snow days, students in New York City will log onto their computer, count themselves present during attendance, and feign interest in their studies.
The United Federation of Teachers union told the New York Post teachers need to have a digital classroom set up by Sept. 30 in case of remote learning.
The New York City public school system isn’t the only district in the country to do away with snow days and go to remote learning, but critics said plans like this will rob kids of cherished life experiences. There’s also plenty of evidence showing remote learning isn’t effective and negatively impacts poor kids the most.
The principal of a school in Chicago said snow days are important for a child’s upbringing because there’s value in those “moments of reckless, joyful abandon.”
