buses

Education News for 02-21-2013

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State Education News

  • Teachers' credentials for helping students struggling with reading under discussion (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Ohio lawmakers are considering some tweaks to the coming third grade reading guarantee to make sure enough teachers will have the required credentials to work…Read more...

  • Kasich aide among 30 seeking schools post (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Gov. John Kasich’s top education adviser heads the list of 30 candidates for Ohio superintendent of public instruction…Read more...

  • Tuition for fulltime kindergarten appears OK, officials say (Newark Advocate)

    • Granville School officials are proceeding with plans to offer full-time kindergarten classes on a tuition basis next school year, believing that Gov. John Kasich’s proposed new budget will now allow it…Read more...

  • Chardon Schools officials receive Governor's Courage Award for dedication after shooting (Willoughby News Herald)

    • Chardon High School Principal Andy Fetchik said it was humbling to be on stage at the State of the State Address with other recipients of the Governor’s Courage Award…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Kent ponders school security (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • Kent schools Superintendent Joseph Giancola is considering new ways to ensure student safety…Read more...

  • Mayor denies he intends to disband school board (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Mayor Michael B. Coleman insisted yesterday that he is not trying to take over Columbus City Schools, a day after the school board…Read more...

  • Butler Tech to issue $3 million in bonds (Hamilton Journal-News)

    • The Butler Tech Board of Education has authorized Treasurer Ed Pokoro to issue up to $3 million in Bond Anticipation Notes to refinance existing debt and secure funds for future capital improvements…Read more...

  • Districts try to recover money lost to charter schools (Hamilton Journal-News)

    • Area school districts are taking different approaches to recoup the millions of dollars they are losing to charter schools each year…Read more...

  • District approves purchase agreement for buses (Hamilton Journal-News)

    • Fairfield City Schools approved a lease/purchase agreement for its 30 new buses at a special meeting Wednesday morning, according to spokeswoman Gina Gentry-Fletcher…Read more...

  • Galion school board tables talk of arming teachers (Mansfield News Journal)

    • The Galion school board meeting was a mixed bag Wednesday, with board members approving a number of initiatives, but some old topics remained in focus…Read more...

Kids ride filthy, broken privatized buses

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One of the provisions contained in the state budget (HB153) that has gone mostly unremarked was the privatization of some education support services, such as transportation

Privatization of School District Transportation Services

Permits non-Civil Service school districts (local, exempted and some city) to terminate transportation employees for reasons of economy and efficiency and contract with an independent agent if various conditions are satisfied, including that any CBA covering employees to be terminated has expired or will expire within 60 days. The independent agent is required to consider hiring terminated employees for similar positions. In addition, the independent agent is required to recognize any employee organization, for the purposes of collective bargaining, that represented employees at the time of termination.

It's supposed to save money, mostly by firing bus drivers and then re-hiring them at lower wages and with poorer benefits.

But that isn't the only corner cutting private school busing companies appear to want to engage in.

The Columbus school district’s private bus contractor, First Student Inc., was forced to park six of its buses last week after surprise inspections found loose seats, holes in the floor and other safety issues.

The State Highway Patrol, which inspects school buses, found unsafe conditions on eight of the nine buses it checked on Jan. 18 and 19. All eight were declared unfit to drive, although two of them were repaired right away and cleared for use.

The inspection of the busses happened quite by accident, due to one bus running a red light, but when the inspectors looked at all the buses what they found was quite shocking

Inspectors noted that some of the nine buses they checked didn’t have working windshield wipers. Others had inoperative taillights, brake lights, horns and warning buzzers. Rust had eaten away at the back of one bus, leaving sharp edges and a hole where air could flow in.

Several buses were dinged for being “filthy,” with trash strewn throughout the bus and on the floor, a hazard for students as they walk the aisles.

The rest of the article details other problems with this private bus company, including it being on probation 2 previous years. This is just another dimension to the privatization of public education tax dollars under the banner of corporate education reform. $14.2 million a year for kids to ride in filthy, broken buses.