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Our #Red4EdNC blog features the voices of public school educators and advocates from around the state. If you have something to say about what’s happening in NC on the topic of public schools, please contact us at [email protected]. We want as many voices as possible to lift up all of the good things happening in public schools, highlight things that need to change, and advocate for ways to make things better!

Ya’ll Have Enough Bus Drivers? Another Indication That NC Is Not Fully Funding Public Schools

By Stu Egan, NC educator

August 5, 2023 

[First published at caffeinatedrage.com]

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So, how many bus drivers does your school system need?

In the Wake County district (the state’s largest and one of the largest in the nation), there are not enough bus drivers.

Why?

The pay is not high enough to recruit drivers.

A large school district has a lot of students.

A large school district has a lot of roads to be traveled and more vehicles to create traffic.

But before someone makes the argument that this district should be able to attract bus drivers when it spends so much on a local supplement for teachers to stay in the Wake County School System…


…, consider that this shortage in bus drivers is not an isolated incident.

It’s happening in all districts.

In the Winston-Salem / Forsyth County School system, there were over 75 bus driver vacancies as of yesterday – FOUR WEEKS BEFORE CLASSES START.

In a state sitting on billions in budget surpluses, ranks number #1 for businesses (not workers – businesses), and wants to triple the amount of voucher money to schools that don’t have to offer transportation, this is more evidence that we as a state are not prioritizing public education.

Some might say, “Well, we keep investing more and more money in public education!”

And they would be right. But are they comparing those spending increases to what we have spent in the past on education and not comparing those costs to a truer barometer: labor costs.

Throw in some inflation and a brief look at how teacher salaries have been altered (some say “reformed”), it’s not hard to see why we have these vacancies in other positions for education support.

 

The views and opinions expressed in guest blog posts are those of the guest bloggers and do not necessarily represent the views of Public Schools First NC, its affiliates, or staff.

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