j.m@talk
01-31-2009, 05:17 PM
President Obama thinks Washington, D.C., should toughen up.
"My children's school was canceled today, because of what?" an incredulous Obama asked Wednesday before a meeting. "Some ice?" He laughed.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg303/mmmmmjm/obama.jpg
Sidwell Friends, the private school his daughters attend, was among area schools that closed or started late Wednesday after a 2-inch snowfall and freezing rain overnight. D.C. schools opened two hours late.
Obama reported that Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, said school was never canceled in Chicago, where students play in the snow during recess.
When it comes to winter, "Folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things," he joked. Maybe, he suggested, they need some "flinty Chicago toughness."
Later, at the Pentagon, he asked someone, "Aren't you a little surprised that they canceled school for my kids?"
Chicago public schools haven't closed for weather since 1999. "We're a tough, hard-working city," said spokesman Mike Vaughn.
Bruce Stewart, head of Sidwell, said most his students carpool from Maryland and Virginia suburbs on roads that can turn treacherous when icy. Still, as a native Bostonian, he agreed with Obama.
Steve Simon, spokesman for public schools in the Washington suburb of Montgomery County, Md., where students had two snow days off this week, said, "It's probably no secret to most people that this area does have a different ability to deal with winter weather."
Although there is "never any shortage of opinions" when schools are closed, he said, "I never recall one going as high as the president of the United States."
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"My children's school was canceled today, because of what?" an incredulous Obama asked Wednesday before a meeting. "Some ice?" He laughed.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg303/mmmmmjm/obama.jpg
Sidwell Friends, the private school his daughters attend, was among area schools that closed or started late Wednesday after a 2-inch snowfall and freezing rain overnight. D.C. schools opened two hours late.
Obama reported that Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, said school was never canceled in Chicago, where students play in the snow during recess.
When it comes to winter, "Folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things," he joked. Maybe, he suggested, they need some "flinty Chicago toughness."
Later, at the Pentagon, he asked someone, "Aren't you a little surprised that they canceled school for my kids?"
Chicago public schools haven't closed for weather since 1999. "We're a tough, hard-working city," said spokesman Mike Vaughn.
Bruce Stewart, head of Sidwell, said most his students carpool from Maryland and Virginia suburbs on roads that can turn treacherous when icy. Still, as a native Bostonian, he agreed with Obama.
Steve Simon, spokesman for public schools in the Washington suburb of Montgomery County, Md., where students had two snow days off this week, said, "It's probably no secret to most people that this area does have a different ability to deal with winter weather."
Although there is "never any shortage of opinions" when schools are closed, he said, "I never recall one going as high as the president of the United States."
http://i.usatoday.net/_common/_images/usat_logo2.gif