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When it comes to weather, do NOT go against Al Roker. The man is one hell of an authority on all things storms and he'll let you know when it IS and IS NOT safe to hit the streets in your school bus, car, or snow boots, got that?! The Today show co-anchor took to Twitter today and went absolutely mental on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, questioning his common sense for choosing to keep city schools open in spite of a bad storm that left 12 people dead in the South and has already caused mayhem and at least one death in the Northeast.
The meteorologist, whose daughter attends an NYC public school, started his day asking a question that many parents and teachers were themselves wondering: "Why are schools all around NYC closed? It's going to take some kid or kids getting hurt before this goofball policy is changed."
It was a harmless enough tweet that was retweeted 118 times. But things really started to heat up on his account after he heard his daughter's school was being let out early:
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He then took things one step further and criticized the new mayor for his judgment call:
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Ouch! De Blasio probably should have left that one alone and counted Al as one of the thousands of parents who are angry at him for keeping schools open. Instead, he reportedly struck back with a comment of his own: “I respect Al Roker a lot, watched him on TV for many many years. It's a different thing to run a city than to give weather on TV.”
Gloves off for a minute, guys. This is obviously about safety and, more specifically, the safety of children. At least one school bus was involved in an accident in Brooklyn today, though thankfully, none of the children on board were injured. Far less fortunate was a pregnant woman who was struck and killed by a snowplow vehicle. Her baby survived as the result of an emergency C-section.
A concerned group of parents created a Facebook page today called Close NYC Schools During Snow Emergenciesthat already has more than 18,000 likes. Obviously a large percentage of parents feel it's ridiculous to ask kids and families to put their lives at risk in order to attend school on a day when many students and teachers will not be able to make it in.
The purpose of school is not to have a warm place to go. It's not a daycare facility for children whose parents have to work. If learning is not going to take place that day because of severe weather conditions, then schools should be shut. I feel for parents who have nowhere else to send their children. Perhaps it would make more sense for cities to keep one school in each community open and pay volunteer teachers to entertain children and feed them meals -- assuming it's possible for meal-delivery services to reach the school that day.
Do you think schools should stay open in heavy storms?
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