National school bus driver shortage9/1/2023 School districts around the country have been contending with the school bus driver shortage, which hampered the start of this school year in Boston. Drivers must have a special certificate, and Monday's announcement noted that members of the guard working on this missing "will meet all statutory requirements for 7D drivers."Īs students returned to full-time in-person learning in Boston, a school bus driver shortage led to question marks. Under state law, 7D vehicles, also known as " school pupil transport vehicles," can carry no more than 10 passengers and must weigh under 10,000 pounds. We are thankful for Governor Baker's partnership," Boyd said. We have been working together with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to come up with solutions to transport students safely to and from school each day. "The shortage of school bus drivers has been a challenge for school districts across the country this year. Lowell schools Superintendent Joel Boyd said in a statement that 15 National Guard drivers will be available by the end of the week, in a partnership that will continue until enough permanent drivers to fill their slots. Like this story? Click here to sign up for the LiberatED newsletter and get education news and analysis like this from Senior Education Fellow Kerry McDonald in your inbox every week.North Carolina GOP seeks to override governor's veto of bill banning gender-affirming care for minors Soldiers driving school buses might now be another one. There are many reasons why parents fled district schools over the past 18 months for homeschooling and other private education options. During the coronavirus response, parents have seen first-hand how school districts have pandered to powerful teachers unions, been unresponsive to parent demands, and implemented ideologically-driven curriculum and school policies. This nursing shortage mirrors others nationwide where nurses and other medical staff have quit or been fired over vaccine mandates.Īs President Biden attempts to interfere with the private sector by ordering all companies with 100 or more employees to require vaccination or frequent testing, the labor shortage in many sectors is likely to get even worse.Īs for parents, the school bus driver shortage is just the latest example of how government schooling is failing many students and families. My colleague Jon Miltimore wrote this week about one hospital in upstate New York that had so many nurses quit over the vaccine mandate, it announced it will have to stop delivering babies this month. Indeed, new COVID-19 vaccine mandates are causing workers in many fields to quit their jobs. In Chicago, more than 70 school bus drivers quit just before the school year began as a result of the district’s new COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all employees. Vaccine mandates have been a key factor in the school bus driver shortage. Some school districts are actually paying parents to drive their own children to school. Pittsburgh Public Schools had to push back their first day of school by two weeks due to the driver shortage, while high school students in Rochester, New York had to begin the year remotely due to the lack of bus drivers. The school bus driver shortage has caused major disruptions to the start of the school year. Currently, 90 National Guard troops are being trained as school bus drivers in the state, with up to 250 troops involved in the overall mission. Here in Massachusetts, the school bus driver situation is so bad that this week the governor called up the National Guard to drive school buses in some of the state’s urban areas that are experiencing the worst driver shortages. Districts have been scrambling to hire new bus drivers, including offering generous perks and bonuses, but these efforts aren’t making much of a dent in attracting new employees. According to The Wall Street Journal, many school bus drivers quit over virus concerns or new COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Click here to sign up.Īs the new academic year begins, a school bus driver shortage has impacted students and families all across the country. This article is excerpted from LiberatED, a weekly email newsletter where FEE Senior Education Fellow Kerry McDonald brings you news and analysis on current education and parenting topics.
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