Did you see this today? Have you ever seen anything more pathetic? In case the hypertext didn’t work, here’s the lead of the story:
State education officials have recently begun trying to buy used buses because the state doesn’t have enough money to buy new ones. Last week, officials bid on 73 buses from 1993 that were being sent to the junkyard by a district in Louisville, Ky.
This is what we’re reduced to, thanks to our refusal to fund the most elementary infrastructure needed to get kids to school. Just to get them there, much less providing adequate educational opportunity after they get there.
We’re reduced to dumpster-diving. We’re rummaging through junkyards for school buses. When I say "we," of course, I’m not talking you and me. Who are the people performing this degrading service in our behalf so that we won’t have to soil our dainty hands? Why, it’s those fat "educrats" that the "pro-choice" crowd is always castigating — the people who get up every morning and go to work trying to provide decent schools for the state’s children with insufficient resources.
What the rest of us should do every morning is hang our heads in shame for allowing this state of affairs to continue.
Oh, and by the way, don’t fixate on the fact that South Carolina is the only state that owns all of school buses in the state, rather than letting local entities pay for them. As odd as that is — a vestige of the Legislative State, which once controlled all aspects of local affairs as well as state — it would not work simply to say, "turn it over to the districts." Our single largest problem in providing an adequate education to all children in the state is the wide disparity between the abilities of rich and poor districts to provide schools, much less take on the bus burden.
South Carolina must come up with an equitable way to fund all essential aspects of funding education in every corner of our state — and that includes a safe, reliable way of getting the kids to school to begin with.
Related Posts
I agree fully with the comment “What the rest of us should do every morning is hang our heads in shame for allowing this state of affairs to continue.
This issue has been boiling for years. I’m sure we can count on “The State” paper not to let this topic die.
Thanks
…and the education lottery was going to solve ALL of our funding problems!
There ought to be somebody I could challenge to a duel over this…(tongue firmly planted in cheek)
I guess our governor will have to go to Milwaukee to see how to handle this. Maybe he could ask the “Put Parents in Charge” crowd. They are “experts” on how to improve public education.
No Jake,
I’m an expert on how to educate “my” child. We don’t presume to know what’s best for everybody. AHnez boasts enough that “she know’s what’s good for us”.
I can well understand the initial reaction of many that the state is “dumpster-diving” in regards to purchasing used school buses.
However, it is a known fact that the used school bus market is huge and that many buses that are retired (vice scrapped) have much useful life left in them. What the SDE is doing is maximizing their meager funding by taking advantage of a process that we should be following . . . an established system of retiring older buses and replacing them with new buses.
That is exactly how these buses became available – the Jefferson County KY system is retiring the buses and replacintg them with new buses. In fact, this country purchases more new buses per year than the entire state of South Carolina typically purchases. Now THAT is a sad statistic. Our legislators should take note of that fact.
Yes, I would prefer to see new buses. Rather, I would prefer to see newer buses. I work in the school bus industry an am well aware of the value to be found in used buses. We should have been doing this years ago . . . and we should continue to do this in the future.
Much has been said in recent years about exploring the privatization of school buses in our state. I hope that the legislature doesn’t waste too much money on their studies, any rational person can quickly tell you that private operators would require considerably more money to operate the state’s buses than what is currently spent. However, I hope that people realize that private operators don’t purchase all new buses – they purchase both new and used buses. This is a practice that the SDE should continue to follow, though I would hope they could buy slightly newer buses.
I applaud the efforts of Mr. Tudor and his staff as they continue the struggle to provide safe and efficient school bus transportation for our children. They are to be commended, not chastised, for this innovative approach to public busing and I urge you to recognize the positive aspects of the actions that they have taken.
Kudos to Mr. Tudor and his staff!
Well it shouldn’t be a struggle to provide safe transportation. Just get the budget and make it happen.
http://www.funnygiftideanow.com
I am going to set the information STRAIGHT.
I come from the district that sold off these buses, and I actually rode one of these ’73’ buses as a route back in 2004. First of all, get the facts straight, they are 1992 Model buses. 2nd of all, you make them sound like crap. I understand the situation, and all, but its sites like this that make this overratted. These buses were NOT retired because of age. At the time, we had 1988 buses still in service. They were retired due to the rarity to find parts *which is all SC needs*.
Getting the facts straight,
Jake