When they close a school for an entire week rather than risk teachers having to drive on 2 cm of snow for a few hindred yards until they hit a major road, or worse still having to take public transport, where is the clamour for these people to be prosecuted and transported to Siberia?
As the father of one of those teachers, let me tell you her experiences :
A Marine Biology graduate, she teaches Science to GCSE level at a boys comprehensive school in Horsham. She has to live at home with us near Alton, as she was running up debt living in (Hove) Brighton on a teacher's pittance of a salary. Normally this is a one hour commute and she leaves at 06:30 and gets back most days at 7:30 / 8:00 pm after a post school meeting.
She then works at home for an hour or two doing paperwork, marking, prep work most evenings.
First icy Monday before Xmas she hit black ice and mounted a verge, over a hedge, and rolled down a field - car a write-off (doing no more than 30 mph). Three further cars had accidents at this spot, police said no one could do anything about it, council had not gritted. As of yesterday she still has not had the offer of replacment value from the insurance company (which she has to have in writing by post it appears not via fax or email !), and so has had three weeks of hiring a car at £120 pre week. Fourth one just about to start - £480 a month is a figure she cannot afford to sustain.
Last Tuesday she was stranded in Petersfield (all over news with A3 at standstill, etc) mostly caused by idiots unable to drive up slight hills and then blocking the road. She made it home mid-day Wednesday after an overnight at a relative (after a 3 mile walk at 9pm in the dark and snow).
Her school has been closed mainly due to the kids not getting in (school buses stopped running & lack of local gritting in Horsham) and she has spent 3 hours each way getting there to give tuition to those that are in, especially GCSE year, on days it was open.
She (and colleagues too) has also set up online lessons via the school web site for their classes.
We have 18" of snow here (not 2cm) and thick ice as well on our side roads and only A31 is clear.
As for public transport, we explored that option - trains Alton to Aldershot, Aldershot to Guildford, Guildford to Redhill, Redhill to Horsham - 2.5 hours and £ 32 per day. Or train Alton to Waterloo, walk to Blackfriars, Blackfriars to Gatwick and bus - same time and £51 per day.
Teachers (in the state sector) are recommended to NOT live close to their schools or even in the same town (history of attacks, cars damaged / torched, abuse if seen out in town in evening, etc).
One thing I do agree with you Dixie is the bigger question : now that Labour has bankrupted the country for the second time in my lifetime, can we afford to HAVE troops ? Another one is "unpleasant and over-regulated England in which many of us reside" but I would regulate even more and apply much greater punative action - especially for t*sers in BMWs and Audis who can't drive in the snow & ice, local and national governments that don't deliver on paid-for services, people who can't be bothered, etc !
Whether right or left wing - a benevolent dictatorship sure keeps things running !
