Students Are Going to be Pissed About This One

By Alicia Dorr in News on Aug 30, 2007 6:15PM

We always thought it was pretty ridiculous when students at other schools got the second-tier holidays off of school — you know, your Columbus Days and your Presidents' Days. It seemed almost as ridiculous (read: unfair) as when the kid down the street got ten dollars from the tooth fairy while we got a quarter. Why celebrate some presidents' birthdays by sitting at home but celebrate another's when it rolls around? And didn't they "discover" what an a-hole Columbus was awhile ago?

Although we can imagine it totally blows for students, we think it's actually appropriate that Chicago Public Schools may allow some schools to reform their calendars if the school board and state education officials approve. It's nice that one administrator can decide that Casmir Day is no big whoop while another can thumb her nose at Columbus. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is protected by the teacher's union and Veteran's Day, in light of the country's current situation, will also still be observed.

There is one thing that kind of irks us about it, though: it's the top-performing schools that would get the choice to reform the calendar if the plan is approved. So the students who need more learning time could still be celebrating a day commemorating one of the worst plunderers the world has ever known, while the students who may be able to do without an extra day or two may get more funding for higher attendance? We guess we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, we're going to sulk about never getting snow days when we were children.

Image via cfelessonplans.org.