Pay-for-bus plan won’t save much

I am writing in response to an April 21 article entitled, “Pay to ride the school bus?” The state’s latest plan to save money might be unwise for several reasons.

First, in these hard economic times, does Illinois really want to make its citizens pay more money for their children to attend school? Second, school attendance is mandatory for children until they turn 17, and thus, children under that age must attend school even if their parents cannot afford to pay for busing.

Furthermore, many of these students have two parents who work, and often these parents’ work schedules do not allow them to drive their children to school. Thus, if a school district will not provide busing for students whose parents cannot pay and who are unable to drive them to school, it will force many students to walk over a mile and a half to school.

The lack of transportation might also force some of these students to walk through hazardous areas to get to school. The state should not put students’ safety at risk just to save money.

Third, because of this risk to students’ safety, school districts will probably still have to create contingency plans for students whose parents cannot afford to pay for busing and cannot otherwise transport them to school. However, if districts bear the primary responsibility for providing funds to transport these students, other educational programs and services will suffer because of a lack of funding.

Furthermore, if a district still cannot afford to pay on its own to bus these students, the state may find itself paying for busing because it has a duty to provide every child within its boundaries with access to education. Thus, in reality the state’s plan probably wont save it much money.

Bethany Nystrom

Villa Park