Gothamist: New School Bus Routes Are So Busted

I am not Star Jones

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 22:01:40 -0500

bloomberg once again shows his immense contempt for the poor, working and middle class of this city by putting his stamp on such a disastrous plan. I hope he remembers who is responsible when the first 6 year old gets lost trying to navigate the MTA bus system.

teach

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 20:30:55 -0500

as a teacher who considers herself not to be as jaded as many of her coworkers, i can officially declare to you that joel klein is a complete and total asshat. not to mention bloomberg and bush, but i don't even want to get into it.

oy

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 13:09:35 -0500

absolutely shameful, hopefully everyone talking about this will do some good. I went to Catholic school in NJ k through 12 and in high school there was a lot of busing BS because most districts bused kids to our school then turned the buses around to do their public school runs. Unfortunately, this meant that those districts' students were catching inordinately early buses and arriving at school way too early (as in one of the comments above, sometimes before the building was open). When people tried to complain, the districts acted as if they were doing my schoolmates a favor (even though they were legally obligated to provide transportation) and as if my schoolmates were drains on their resources (even though their parents paid the same property taxes that provide NJ school funding). My point, is that they did not try to find a solution and I hope that is not the case here.

sheluv

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:37:20 -0500

I got a couple more examples of my own: My 5 year old's bus change now means that her morning commute is an hour---for a school that is less than 2 miles away. A schoolmate of hers must get on another bus a 1/2 hour earlier than before---only to arrive at the school before it even opens (classes start 1/2 after that). Hire a private consulting firm to manage city contracts with bus drivers and this is what you get. Mind bogggling mismanagement.

Dave H.

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:17:11 -0500

I can see where Mayor Bloomberg is coming from. I mean seriously, why can't parents have their drivers shuttle mom and the wee ones back and forth in the Range Rover like they do at the 92nd St. Y? That's how his neighbors roll. Instead, they want the city to provide door-to-within-20-blocks service. What are they, communists?

WTF

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:09:04 -0500

I can't believe the city would do something as insane as this. Bloomberg who is so pro education has completely dropped the ball on this issue. Giving a six year old a metrocard? Are you kidding me???? This is an outrage. This city is completely out of control in what it costs to live here and working parents just do not have the time to take their kids to school and be expected to make it to work on time. This is first and foremost a security issue for the well being of this city's children. You can get locked up for leaving a kid alone and now the mayor is saying put them on a city bus with potential child molestors, unreal.