Despite the tax, why NJ schools are much better off in winter

Sometimes it's good that New Jersey is known for its school system. Could it be better? Sure. We can start by consolidating districts and lowering our school taxes. But that's a topic for another day.

At the moment, I want to focus on the insanely cold winter New Jersey has been having and its impact on our school system. To say the least, it's been rough.

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Some districts have accumulated a handful of snow days and delayed openings as a result of the snow, ice, and extreme cold. And not that it's an option we'd like to see, but if it came down to it, we could technically go virtual if too many snow days occur.

But so far, that last option doesn't seem like it'll be necessary. In fact, most New Jersey school districts were spared from having to accumulate too many snow days. That's not the case in other states.

How other states handled the snow

School districts south of New Jersey are kind of in a bind. My brother, for example, lives in Tennessee now, and his kids haven't been to school in over two weeks because of the snow and cold.

They just don't have the same resources or urgency to tackle it, nor do they have the proper internet infrastructure in place to even consider going virtual. And they recently had temperatures in the 70s.

Just keep that in mind when we look at our schools. Yes, some schools lost a few days, but no way did any district stay closed for over two weeks because of it. Sometimes we have to be thankful for what we've got, despite the high taxes.

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.