California Preparing for 20 Percent Budget Cuts for School Transportation

By Ryan Gray

The Los Angeles Times blogs about "A mixture of worry and measured relief for state school districts" as California legislators have come to a compromise to solve a $26 billion budget shortfall. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger earlier this month proposed cuts to school transportation as a means of closing the expenditure gap resulting in a demonstration at the state capitol last week by school bus drivers and teachers. The rally, which included school buses circling the capitol, appeared not to have worked

While the budget was still being written by legislators and no final numbers were available in advance of a scheduled vote on Thursday, state school transportation is expected to be cut for the 2009-2010 school year by 20 percent. And that's not to mention cuts to other programs as the state attempts to keep as much money in the classroom as possible.

As the Times writes, schools have already begun laying off school bus drivers:

In anticipation of proposed cuts, the rural Mojave Unified District gave notice to all 17 of its bus drivers. About two-thirds of the district’s 3,000 students rely on bus service to get to school. District Supt. Larry Phelps said he hoped to salvage some of those jobs as well as some student transportation in a district where more than half the students are from low-income families.

We'll be talking to John Green, the state director of pupil transportation with the California Department of Education, over the weekend at the STN EXPO to get more details on how the environment will shape up.

Why Transportation Must be Wary of Virtual Schooling for K-12

By Ryan Gray

For several decades now, online courses have been a resource for adult continuing education. But virtual schools are also gaining steam in public childhood education, and student transporters best become familiar with how such services can affect their operations.

I first grew interested in this trend a couple years ago as virtual field trip providers entered the education scene as an alternative to expensive, traditional student visits to museums and the such. My initial reaction was how sad it was that some students now were being deprived of my favorite part of school growing up. But the ramifications go far beyond escaping the classroom for several hours and the hands-on learning that can result. In speaking with one transportation software provider, I asked if these virtual field trip companies are in fact becoming a new competitor?

While you won't hear many industry vendors officially say so, the general feeling is that the growth of virtual school programs ... and now classes ... is something the industry must closely monitor, especially in light of a growing movement aimed at protecting school transportation as we know it. Then, just last week, the University of Florida released a study that said virtual schools can increase student learning while also driving down skyrocketing school costs, such as transportation. Look for more on this topic in our July magazine issue.

Surprisingly, many school transporters we talked to for our editorial coverage said they don't see a correlation between transportation and online learning. That disconnect could spell very big problems for an industry that's fighting for its life amid the current economy and state budget crises nationwide.