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I live in a large school district (well, for a small Kentucky town) with over 28,000 students. Most of the area is very rural and like it or not these kids need transportation to get an education. In a perfect world the parents in the area would get together, car pool and get those kids to school no matter what. But we don't live in a perfect world and many parents depend on help to get their children to the school house door.
We aren't talking about subdivisions of kids having a mile or two drive to get to class but 30-40 miles of riding to get there. There are far flung, narrow, crappy rural roads that are not easy or convenient to reach. Some of these kids get on a bus a 6:15 am to get to class on time. There just isn't always an easy solution available. My local district hasn't canceled classes for a day yet but I wouldn't be surprised if it comes to that as they have approx 450 buses to gas up and get on the road twice a day, five days a week.
Now, I love school sports but maybe that is where some cuts could be made, ixnay school games and outings, cut anywhere, anything you can but class instruction and I'm with you. But will that be enough? (We will just leave alone the argument that school sports are needed to "showcase" students for scholarship opportunities thus need to be held. Or that they contribute a lot to student growth - no disagreement but if we are forced to prioritize we need to consider what is best for all students.)
The closing of schools due to skyrocketing fuel costs is just indicative of our society today. Of course rich people are getting their kids to their private schools while public schools are slowly crumbling and grinding to a halt due to lack of funds. Oil companies are posting record profits while schools are holding bake sales and raffles to buy books. Corporate executives are golden parachuting their way to their summer mansions while teachers are underpaid, under appreciated and often paying out of their own pockets for their students.
Just 2¢ worth of musings.
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