School Bus Safety Officials Charged with Corruption

While no one wants corruption in the public school system, hearing that four Department of Education officials were arrested for taking almost $1 million in bribes from private school bus companies.

All the officials were in the DOE's Office of Public Transportation. According to the NY Times, the three supervisors and one inspector "accepted cash payments ranging from several hundred dollars a year from some companies to tens of thousands of dollars a year from others" and would let the bus companies know when safety inspections would be conducted and helped them get their safety violation fines reduced. Also, the bus companies would bribe for more lucrative routes, but the feds added some payments were just to "secure the goodwill of the defendants."

The bribes allegedly started back in the 1990s, but the Department of Education says bus safety was not compromised. One defendant, George Ortiz, left court and, per the Daily News, "bashed a Daily News photographer, breaking his equipment."

Last year, the News had a series about the problems with the city's school buses. Bad drivers, kids being dropped off lost, kids calling 911 because of bad drivers. And that was after the DOE cut back on routes and caused chaos for parents and students alike (giving a 6-year-old a Metrocard and expecting her to get to school by herself isn't a good idea!).