Or maybe your fat ass kid should get off their touchus and walk. Speaking of kids.
BTW: Don't start whining that this is inappropriate. My whole blog is offensive, so go f-ck yourself.
Everyone's going back to school—except school bus drivers
A school bus driver shortage in the US is forcing some school districts to cancel class
By Julia Malleck, Quartz Media
Aug 22, 2023
US schoolchildren are preparing to head back to the classroom after the long summer break—and perhaps they will not be altogether upset that a shortage of school bus drivers is making their return much more difficult.
School districts are attempting to find workarounds to a nationwide paucity of drivers—by staggering bus schedules, or even by paying parents to drive—but not without some bumps in the road. According to a USA Today analysis, every US state has been facing at least one episode of difficulty as a result of the bus driver shortage. And some states’ problems have already made national headlines.
Kentucky’s school bus kerfuffle
Kentucky’s largest school district, Jefferson County Public Schools, faced a bus route fiasco earlier in August, leading to one week of school being canceled. The problem began with a consulting job gone wrong. AlphaRoute, an algorithm software company, had been hired to redesign school bus routes prior to the start of term, to work around the driver shortage in the 96,000-student district.
But when the plan was rolled out on Aug. 9, chaos ensued. Drivers were reportedly confused about the consolidated routes, leaving some children stranded and others dropped off well after the start and end of school. Some children reportedly got home after 9pm.
East Baton Rouge’s bus driver pay protest
The East Baton Rouge School System in Louisiana also canceled classes on Aug. 21, due to a bus driver shortage. The week prior, on Aug. 18, a reported half of the district’s bus drivers called in sick after the district school board offered them a $12,500 stipend instead of a permanent pay raise. (Salaries start at $19,000 in the district.) Of the district’s 150 school buses, 80 are going unused, according to WAFB, a local news outlet.
Chicago and Philadelphia are offering to pay parents to drive their kids to school
School districts in other states are trying to avoid similar catastrophes. Philadelphia is offering to pay parents $3,000 a year to drive their own kids to and from school through its Parent Flat Rate Program. Even so, the city’s school district needs to hire 105 bus drivers before classes restart, according to 6abc Action News.
Meanwhile, Chicago is offering $500 per month to some families to transport their kids to school. The city has 681 bus drivers on its rolls, out of the estimated 1,300 it requires to help some 17,000 students commute to school, CBS News reported.
Why is there a school bus driver shortage?
HopSkipDrive, a ridesharing company, conducted a survey (pdf) among education and transportation professionals to pinpoint what has led to the current dysfunction in school transportation, as Axios first reported.
According to the survey, the top factors contributing to the shortage are “issues recruiting new bus drivers,” “drivers retiring,” and “driver pay.” Two other factors included drivers moving to the private sector and the lasting impacts of covid. An astonishing 92% of survey respondents said that bus shortages impacted their transportation operations, up from 88% last year. Over 59% reported reducing the number of bus routes due to shortages.
“One of the things that people fail to realize is school bus drivers do not get paid year round, and they are not working 40 hours a week. This puts them at part-time and seasonal status,” Elizabeth Banks, a transportation supervisor, told HopSkipDrive. Valerie Crespin, a special needs router and liaison also quoted in the report, pointed out: “Even the fast food industry pays more.”