Parents navigate charter schools, vouchers and a growing marketplace of education options every day. For some families, these opportunities open doors that traditional systems have long kept closed. For others, they widen gaps, creating new advantages for those with time, knowledge, or resources to navigate complex systems. 

That鈥檚 the fork in the road: Will school choice become a lever for equity or another layer of inequality? What happens next depends less on whether choice exists and more on how leaders, policymakers and practitioners choose to design, regulate and support it.

As a principal of a nontraditional high school in Tennessee built to give juniors and seniors a second chance at graduation, I saw firsthand how transportation made 鈥渃hoice鈥� inequitable. Our school was open to all students in the district, but the catch was that families had to provide their own way there.

Over time, as the demographics of our community shifted, we saw more students enrolling from affluent schools while fewer came from inner-city and Title I schools 鈥� the very students who stood to benefit most. Day after day, I sat with families who desperately wanted the opportunity but were unable to access it. The lesson was clear: Choice without infrastructure only stands to reinforce privilege rather than broaden opportunity.

The strongest critiques of school choice aren鈥檛 about the principle of offering families more options; they鈥檙e about access. For choice to deliver on its promise, access has to mean more than an open seat. It has to mean that every family, regardless of income, language, or need, can truly participate. Without that, choice stops being an opportunity and starts being just an illusion of opportunity. 

Transportation is just one of the barriers, affecting families without cars, flexible jobs or reliable public transit. Enrollment processes add another layer of inequity: complex paperwork, limited multilingual communication and opaque lotteries often shut out families who already face systemic disadvantages. For students with disabilities and English learners, the inequities deepen. Research shows charter schools often provide patchy services with weak oversight, while private schools in voucher programs may decline to serve these students altogether since they aren鈥檛 bound by the same legal protections.

Funding and accountability form the final fault lines. When dollars follow students out of neighborhood schools without adjustments, budgets destabilize and fewer resources for the children left behind. And even within schools of choice, oversight is inconsistent. Too often, leaders track test scores but not who is being served, allowing schools to avoid providing the services students need.

These patterns suggest that the risks of choice lie not in the idea itself, but in how unevenly families can access and benefit from it, and how lightly systems hold schools accountable for equity. The way forward isn鈥檛 to fight the existence of choice but to shape its design. Equity has to be built into the foundation: guaranteed transportation, simplified and fair enrollment systems, real accountability for serving all students, and funding models that strengthen rather than destabilize public schools. Otherwise, choice risks reinforcing the very divides it claims to close.

If school choice is going to expand, policymakers have a responsibility to make equity part of the design, not an afterthought. That starts with four commitments:

• Transportation Access: Guarantee funding and infrastructure so families without cars or flexible work schedules can actually reach the schools they choose. In Indianapolis, for instance, some public charter schools pay as much as $1 million a year to provide bus services. A law that passed in April requires Indiana school districts to work with charters on transportation and facilities plans. More states should follow suit.

• Equitable Enrollment & Family Support: Simplify and standardize application processes, require multilingual communication, and provide 鈥渃hoice navigators鈥� or resource centers so families with less social capital aren鈥檛 left behind. Some school districts, particularly, and Philadelphia, provide strong lottery systems with support from navigators in several languages. But such support shouldn鈥檛 depend on individual districts. It should be built into state and federal policy.

• Special Education & Student Services: Hold charter and private choice schools to the same expectations as public schools when it comes to serving students with disabilities, English learners, and students requiring additional support that schools of choice do not always provide.
  
• Accountability & Funding Fairness: Track not only test scores but also who is being served. Are low-income families, English learners, and students with disabilities represented equitably? Are schools counseling students out? And are funding models strengthening, not destabilizing, the public schools that remain?

School choice is not going away, but its future shape is still undecided. 

Public education has always been the surest path to opportunity, and I see it as the key to unlocking success for all kids. Whether school choice narrows or widens opportunity is up to all of us. If the goal is equity, then the focus has to move beyond fighting choice itself and toward shaping policies that make it fair, accessible, and accountable. That鈥檚 the only way to ensure choice strengthens, rather than fractures, the promise of public education.

If policymakers, advocates, and practitioners want choice to be more than a slogan, they have to design it with equity at the center. That means treating transportation, special education, family support, accountability, and funding fairness not as side issues but as nonnegotiables. 

The future of school choice is being written right now. It can open doors, or it can reinforce walls.

We live at the entrance of a suburban neighborhood, and my son’s transportation van picks him up each day to drive him to his specialty school for youth with complex medical and special education needs. Bus driver Steve and bus monitor Carol have been escorting my son to and from school for the better part of five years. They are a dream team.

And, for the better part of five years, I have watched cars speed by as we load my son into his van. Steve has escalated his response to these delinquent drivers over the years. He flashes his lights. He beeps the horn. He rolls down his window and motions with his arms to stop. He yells out at the drivers. He calls in license plates on his radio to dispatch. He alerts the dispatchers to watch video from the cameras that are installed on his bus, to see if they can identify the dangerous drivers.

Despite his best efforts, none of it seems to make any difference. 

Perhaps that’s not surprising. Even though to pass a stopped school bus with its stop sign out and red lights flashing, upward of 242,000 drivers illegally pass yellow school buses each day in the United States, with more than occurring each school year. 

And that’s just for yellow school buses. But not all school buses are yellow.

For every school district’s fleet of yellow buses, there are an average of that transport some of the 7.5 million students, ages 3 to 21, who receive and benefit from additional support on their way to and from school. They represent 15% of all students in that age range in the United States.

Although all school transportation vans have a black School Bus sign on top, flashing red lights and a stop sign arm that extends during boarding, most of them are not yellow. 

And that seems to make matters worse.

One morning, bus driver Steve opened his door and literally forced a minivan that was speeding by us to stop. The driver was a mom who lives just a few houses away. She was holding her phone in her hand, and her three school-aged children were in the car. 

She looked bewildered, even though she has driven by us nearly every day for years. On this day, after I secured my son in his car seat, I walked over and re-introduced myself. I explained that our bus driver was asking her to stop because I was loading my son onto his school bus. 

鈥淭hat is not a school bus,鈥� she replied matter-of-factly. 鈥淚 didn’t know I was supposed to stop.鈥�

In her defense, she鈥檚 not alone. In my observations, drivers are just as likely to begrudgingly pull over and shout 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know I was supposed to stop鈥� as they are to continue past us as though they didn鈥檛 see us in the first place. It doesn’t matter if it’s an elderly neighbor, a new driver, someone running late, a busy parent on the phone, even a public works employee driving an official town vehicle. Next to none of them stop.

My observations check out: A of over 3,500 drivers showed that people likely illegally pass stopped yellow school buses because they didn鈥檛 care (30.5%), were in a hurry (25.5%), didn鈥檛 know the law (24.3%) or were distracted (12.2%).

And that data is, of course, based on yellow school buses. Because for all the reports that have been written on the prevalence of illegal passing of school buses from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there is not a single mention of special education transportation vans.

Not one.

So here is a public-service announcement for drivers in every neighborhood in the nation: Not all school buses are yellow. And, no matter the color or the size of the vehicle being used to bring students to and from school, when the school bus lights are on and the stop arm is out, you are required to stop. 

Please don鈥檛 wait until a child is struck by a car driving illegally past a school transportation van to make this an issue you care about. 

Last spring, the St. Louis Public Schools parent had to drive his four children to different schools after the district鈥檚 bus contractor . It wasn鈥檛 uncommon for some of his kids to miss the first class of the day because of the trek across town. This summer, Dorsey was hoping the new school year would bring improved transportation. Instead, he is once again in the driver鈥檚 seat 鈥� which he fears will hinder his children鈥檚 education.

鈥淚 have to make sure everybody gets to school on time. I don’t want them to miss any more time in class,鈥� Dorsey said. 鈥淪o it’s just going to be a real hectic time in the morning 鈥� just trying to move through traffic and hustle and bustle.鈥�

Dorsey is one of thousands of St. Louis parents 鈥� 鈥� who have had to scramble to make alternative plans for their kids because of bus driver shortages. 

of 400 school districts by HopSkipDrive, a national student transportation company, found that 91% reported being impacted by a bus driver shortage in 2024. The numbers were 92% in 2023 and 88% in 2022.

About 60% said shortages had forced them to cut back on bus services. More than a third (38%) of the districts said staffers are taking time away from their jobs to drive school buses or vans.

鈥淢y fear is that at some point we are going to cross the point of no return,鈥� said Keith Galloway, a senior vice president with Student Transportation of America, in an .

鈥淲e have to somehow figure out how we will continue to partner with school districts, keep our costs under control and also be in a position where we can recruit and retain school bus drivers, mechanics, dispatchers and managers to operate the business,鈥� he said. 

In St. Louis, after the bus company pulled out last spring, district officials cobbled together an emergency transportation plan involving yellow buses, taxis and private rideshare cars from nearly 20 vendors.

On Aug. 19, the first day of school,  roughly 6,400 students were supposed to be transported by yellow buses, 6,200 by cabs or rideshare cars and 1,450 by public transit. But the day before, three bus vendors , leaving more than 1,000 students in limbo.

In lieu of bus transportation, some parents received temporary gas cards, according to the district. Dorsey was one of them 鈥� his 10th grader at Nottingham CAJT High School was assigned to a bus, while his eighth grader at Compton-Drew ILC Middle School received a $25 gas card. His other two children attend charter schools.

鈥淭he card probably won鈥檛 last two days of picking up and dropping off,鈥� Dorsey said.

He said he adjusted his work schedule so he can bring his children to school, but picking them up will be a problem. His shift starts at 3 p.m., so he either will have to get to work late or take his kids out of class early.

鈥淚 know it’s going to be a lot with the upcoming school year, especially with these kids trying to figure out how to ride public transportation or even jumping in a cab with a stranger,鈥� Dorsey said. 鈥淚t’s going to be hard for the parents to instill that confidence in their children. It’s going to be hard for the parents to even try to make sure that their children are at the bus stops and get to work. It’s a lot for us right now.鈥�

The HopSkipDrive study also surveyed 500 parents and found 79% said they are managing school transportation on their own and 62% said driving their children has caused them to miss work. About 63% said their kids would miss less school if more convenient transportation were available.

HopSkipDrive is one of the rideshare vendors that recently partnered with St. Louis Public Schools to cover transportation. Earlier this year, Patricia Ludwig left her job as a bus driver in the St. Louis area to become a driver with HopSkipDrive because of her arthritis. 

Ludwig said the job is easier because she uses her own car. She uses company software to pick up as many routes as she wants and transports only a few children at a time. Ludwig said she drives kids of all ages.

鈥淵ou can offer certain things you can’t offer with the school bus, because it’s a much more personalized and intimate experience,鈥� Ludwig said. 鈥淵ou’re not on a bus with 30 to 70 other kids, right? You’re just with three or four children. It鈥檚 much more like carpooling.鈥�

Drivers with HopSkipDrive go through a rigorous background and certification process, and their cars have to be inspected, according to the company. Drivers communicate directly with parents, pick up children at their door and can wait for students if they are running late.

Square Watson, chief operations officer for St. Louis Public Schools, said at an Aug. 13 school board meeting that the district is ensuring safety for students using rideshare companies and public transit by patrolling routes, monitoring driver progress using GPS and stationing volunteers at stops. All vehicles transporting children require windshield decals, and drivers have to wear identification badges.

Officials haven鈥檛 said how long the district will use rideshare companies or taxis. Watson said the district hopes to bring on more traditional school buses as the year continues.

鈥淓veryone is in this together as we arm up and get ourselves ready for the start of school. Will it look ugly? Yes,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淚 mean, we鈥檝e got lemons and we鈥檙e making lemonade.鈥�

Virginia鈥檚 school bus driver vacancy rate has decreased by five percent over the past three school years, according to the Virginia Department of Education.

After the legislature amended its reporting requirements, the agency started collecting bus driver vacancy data two years ago. Factors like pay and recruitment challenges, and drivers leaving for the private sector, led to the shortage of drivers.

In addition, schools were closed to in-person leaving some drivers to find other ways to meet the increased cost of services and goods due to inflation that burdened families in Virginia.

During the 2021-22 school year, Virginia recorded a vacancy rate of full- and part-time drivers at 16% in 2021-22. The rate decreased to 11% in 2022-23 and last year to 10%. Data on the upcoming school year ‘s driver vacancy rates will not be available until the fall.

鈥淚t鈥檚 good news,鈥� said Scott Brabrand, the executive director of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents.

He said superintendents around the commonwealth have been working to address the shortage by offering bonuses and increasing bus driver salaries.

Schools in Virginia found other unique ways of transporting students amid the bus driver shortage, such as altering routes, placing more students on buses, and using car and van services. Some communities created programs to promote to school.

The state legislature has also attempted to address the shortage in recent years.

Last year, the General Assembly agreed to legislation carried by Del. , R-Chesterfield, and Sen., D-Portsmouth, to shorten the time period during which retired drivers with at least 25 years of service could return to work without jeopardizing their pension benefits.

In another measure, Sen. , R-Abington, and Del. , R-Washington, raised awareness of the retirement benefits for teachers who drive buses. Following the session earlier this year, the Virginia Retirement System clarified that qualifying teachers who drive buses would receive compensation when they retire.

According to the agency鈥檚 , VRS-participating school divisions may combine the job duties of two positions under one contract as long as one of the positions is a covered position.

鈥淚t is a huge benefit to teachers,鈥� Washington County Public Schools Superintendent Keith Perrigan said.

Experts have said that transportation is one key to keeping children in school, limiting a high number of absences, and addressing the learning loss exacerbated during the pandemic.

Perrigan, who serves on the state鈥檚 to address absences, said a few school divisions he represents in the Coalition of Small and Rural Schools of Virginia will start the school year fully staffed with drivers, unlike previous years.

鈥淢uch of rural Virginia, especially Southwest Virginia, is seeing progress in this area. Although we still have some work to do, we are breathing a little easier with the bus driver shortage,鈥� Perrigan said.

According to Perrigan, seven teachers in Washington County will split their time teaching and driving students, and more than 20 will do the same in Buchanan County.

Last year, Rappahannock County faced a shortage of drivers. However, according to Shannon Grimsley, superintendent of Rappahannock schools, the school division is fully staffed with drivers and has substitute drivers available.

This comes after Grimsley became a part-time school bus driver to alleviate transportation barriers for students and encourage others to become drivers. The division’s focus now is covering the costs of replacing aging buses, another transportation challenge some districts face.

鈥淲e are creatively working with the county government on our bus replacement schedule to ensure our fleet is in proper order and meeting all guidelines for optimum operability,鈥� Grimsley said.

Grimsely said the costs of buses have significantly increased and the impact on rural school districts with limited state funding can be a challenge. She said the costs of buses in her district have increased by more than 63% over the past five years.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on and .

Millions of students ride a yellow school bus every day, and for the majority of them, it works well. However, many districts that rely on school buses are wrestling with a significant shortage of drivers, most of whom work part-time, split shifts for relatively low wages. 

In an August 2023 , 92% of schools surveyed reported that driver shortages constrained their transportation operations, and 40% said they have been forced to reduce bus services. School leaders recognize the impact these transportation challenges are having on attendance and academic performance: Nearly three-quarters of school leaders in the same study say they see a correlation between access to transportation and attendance, especially for students most at risk of being absent in the first place, including those with learning disabilities, from low-income families, experiencing homelessness or in foster care.

According to a report from , a national nonprofit working to overcome homelessness through education, the nationwide shortage of school bus drivers has had an outsized impact on students who lack a permanent place to live. These young people 鈥渙ften experience frequent or unanticipated changes in living situations, including moving across district boundaries,鈥� the group wrote in the report. 鈥淎s a result of driver shortages, it can be difficult for school 鈥� transportation departments to accommodate last-minute changes or route adjustments, often causing students to miss part or all of a school day.鈥�

Local, state and federal policymakers must think carefully and systematically about the challenges inherent in traditional transportation to and from school, and their impact on absenteeism and student learning. They also need to look at how new thinking and innovative approaches can offer solutions to this crisis.

An important first step is clearly and consistently acknowledging that transportation to and from school is integral to education and not an ancillary service. For example, in September 2023, the White House released a about chronic absenteeism and outlined some approaches to address it. While the post highlighted some valuable reforms taken by the Biden administration, there was, unfortunately, no mention of school transportation. In January, the White House held focused on chronic absenteeism. Again, there was no mention that access to school transportation is a part of the problem and can 鈥� and should be 鈥� part of the solution. That has to change.

The next step is challenging the notion that a yellow school bus should always be the first option. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, of public school students used a yellow bus in 2019. That percentage has been steadily declining since 1980 and is surely even lower today, given pandemic disruptions to education and the driver shortage. 

Instead, policymakers and school administrators need to invest in innovative solutions. For example, cities that have robust public transportation systems have given students fare cards covering the cost of trips to and from school. When focused on older students who live close to transit stops and can walk there safely, this has to be an effective alternative, particularly for students from low-income families. 

All school systems should also consider supplemental transportation options. By more frequently supplementing yellow buses with smaller vehicles 鈥� like cars, SUVs and small vans 鈥� some districts have made real progress, reducing transit time for students and improving cost and carbon efficiency. Hundreds of districts across the country have partnered with tech platforms that specialize in arranging these supplemental transportation options. Notably, this type of service has been increase attendance, particularly for young people most at risk of missing school.

Finally, school systems and states should invest in emerging technology such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to make existing routes more efficient and identify the shortage areas where supplemental transportation can help fill gaps. Colorado Springs鈥� District 11, , used AI to optimize its routing, which essentially solved its bus driver shortages by increasing the number of high-utilization bus routes and cutting the number of total routes nearly in half. The district was also able to increase on-time arrivals and reduce its projected transportation budget by 40% over the next 10 years.

A nation committed to education as a priority must utilize all these tools and more to embrace a new era of multimodal school transportation. Unless and until federal and state policymakers acknowledge the very real ways transportation issues undergird chronic absenteeism and invest in proven solutions, the wheels of some buses will keep going 鈥榬ound and 鈥榬ound while many students are left behind.

Rep. Pat Heinert says North Dakota should think about throwing some federal driver鈥檚 licensing requirements under the bus.

鈥淚鈥檝e come up with the wild idea of creating a bus driver鈥檚 license for North Dakota,鈥� Heinert said during a school funding committee meeting on Nov. 28.

Maybe it鈥檚 not so crazy. Maybe it is.

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Mike Heilman, executive director of the , said his group and others have been looking into waivers for parts of the federal commercial driver鈥檚 license requirements that bus drivers are required to have.

Specifically, the state may be able to waive the 鈥渦nder-the-hood鈥� requirement as part of the CDL training.

鈥淭here are several states that have an under-the-hood exemption,鈥� Heilman told the committee on Nov. 28.

Part of the pre-bus inspection requires knowing how to spot potential problems with the engine.

鈥淭he mechanic needs to know this but not necessarily the bus driver,鈥� Heilman said.

Brad Schaffer, driver license director for the North Dakota Department of Transportation, says that yes, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which sets the rules for CDL requirements, does allow states to grant the 鈥渦nder the hood鈥� exemption. But he said his department has decided against the move.

He said that someone obtaining a Class B CDL with the waiver would limit their driving:

They would only be able to drive a school bus, preventing them from driving a bus for another purpose, such as for a church group.It would mean they couldn鈥檛 drive across state lines.

He said there also is a possibility that the federal agency could decide to discontinue the waivers, forcing drivers to start over.

Schaffer said his department looked at other states that offer under-the-hood waiver and didn鈥檛 see much benefit.

Schaffer said the department can grant individual requests for under-the-hood waivers, but when potential CDL drivers learn about the restrictions, they back off. The department has not issued any such waivers this year.

He also said he didn鈥檛 think there would be a significant time savings on training with the waiver.

Other options?

Could there be other ways to create a light version of the CDL?

Levi Bachmeier, business manager for West Fargo Public Schools and a former policy adviser to Gov. Doug Burgum, said ideas are worth exploring.

Making it easier to get a CDL is one strategy to address the bus driver shortage in North Dakota and around the country.

A national survey on school busing released in 2021 showed 51% of respondents described their driver shortage as 鈥渟evere鈥� or 鈥渄esperate;鈥� and 78% indicated that the driver shortage is getting 鈥渕uch worse鈥� or 鈥渁 little worse.鈥�

That has forced school districts to rethink transportation routes and services.

Alexis Baxley, executive director of the , said districts of all sizes are struggling to fill driving spots.

In Bismarck, she said drivers are having to drive two routes. The Northern Cass School District had to temporarily drop rural service this fall, offering only in-town pickup.

Other options include dropping door-to-door service, instead creating bus stops, and running longer routes. Baxley said longer routes can be especially hard on young students.

鈥淕etting them to school is the most important thing,鈥� Baxley said.

She said her group and the Small Organized Schools want to gather data.

鈥淚n order to identify a solution, we feel that we need to dig in and get some really hard data, something more than anecdotal, and see if we can really identify perhaps the biggest barriers to recruitment or the biggest barriers in the licensure process,鈥� Baxley said.

Added safety requirement, fewer tests

The feds in February actually added a safety training requirement, though Schaffer said anyone who has held a CDL for two or more years qualifies as a trainer, and there is no time requirement.

Still, North Dakota has administered fewer CDL tests in 2023 than in years past.

As of Dec. 5, the state had given about 2,000 CDLs, on pace for between 2,200 and 2,300 for the year.

That鈥檚 behind 2022鈥檚 3,000 tests and 2,700 in 2021.

Competition with industry

Bachmeier said West Fargo has covered most of the cost for drivers to obtain a CDL but that has been abused by drivers leaving for higher-paying jobs in private industry.

Heinert, a Republican from Bismarck and a former sheriff, admitted that a North Dakota-specific license may not be practical with the federal regulations that exist.

But Bachmeier agreed with Heinert that a lower training standard would help address the problem.

鈥淚f we can find a way to lower the training barriers, we can find a way to lower our competition with private providers that are always going to always out-compete us on a wage perspective, we may be able to affect some of the supply and demand issues that we have with bus drivers.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. North Dakota Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Amy Dalrymple for questions: info@northdakotamonitor.com. Follow North Dakota Monitor on and .

After a disastrous first week of school that saw students in their district not getting home until 10 p.m. on Wednesday and school subsequently being canceled for two days, Jefferson County Republican lawmakers want a special session to enact changes to the district 鈥� including a 鈥渟chool choice鈥� amendment and evaluating splitting the school system up.

The 12 lawmakers, who include House Majority Whip Jason Nemes and Senate Majority Caucus Chair Julie Raque Adams, signed an open letter released Thursday saying the school district failed to 鈥渒eep our kids safe鈥� and structural changes are needed. Both legislators represent Louisville.

鈥淥ur school district has failed for far too long,鈥� the letter reads. 鈥淔or the good of our community and, most importantly, for the future of our children, we must act boldly. And we must act now.鈥�

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The efforts they would spearhead if Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear calls the special session include:

• A 鈥渘eighborhood schools鈥� bill, which the lawmakers said would give students 鈥渢he right to attend their neighborhood schools鈥� and reduce the need for students to be transported across the county. Rep. Kevin Bratcher, R-Louisville, filed such a bill in 2017, but the bill faced about how it would affect magnet programs in the system.
• Creating a commission to evaluate splitting up , which is currently Kentucky鈥檚 largest school system and the 30th largest in the country. The lawmakers said 鈥渢he district is too big to properly manage鈥� because it has nearly 100,000 students and 165 schools.
• Extensive changes to the school board. GOP lawmakers claim the board is not up to the task of managing the $2 billion school district.
• Putting a 鈥渟chool choice鈥� amendment on the ballot in 2024 to allow students to enroll in schools other than their assigned public school district and allow public school dollars to follow them.

Scottie Ellis, deputy communications director for Beshear鈥檚 office, said in a Friday statement that no legislator has directly contacted the office about a special session.

鈥淎 special session is an extraordinary step that costs significant tax dollars and should only be taken after full consensus is reached and legislation has been drafted and then agreed upon,鈥� Ellis said.

Students returned to JCPS on Wednesday for the first day of school. According to , some bus riders were not dropped off until nearly 10 p.m.

JCPS canceled classes on Thursday and Friday to address its bus routes. Ahead of the school year, the school district and cut bus routes because of a bus driver shortage. The district hired to optimize bus routes and the district鈥檚 schedule.

In , Superintendent Marty Pollio apologized to students, their families, bus drivers and school employees and said the issue fell to him and his team. He added that over the next few days bus routes and stops will be reviewed, bus drivers will be paid to practice their routes and communication will increase, including the district upping the number of people answering calls for a bus hotline.

鈥淚 can say change is hard and it is,鈥� Pollio said. 鈥淭he massive change we are undertaking is extremely difficult, but in the end that can鈥檛 be the excuse. We have to be better at what we are doing.鈥�

On Friday, Pollio told reporters that it could be 鈥渢he middle of next week鈥� before students return to school. As for 鈥渄econsolidation鈥� of JCPS, Polio said that would bring several 鈥渃hallenges,鈥� especially when it comes to dividing schools between areas with high and low property assessments. Multiple transportation systems and alternative school programs for each new district would also be needed.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to say it鈥檚 not possible, but I think it would be the most disruptive thing to this community,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I will say once again, I think, especially students in high poverty areas would suffer more than anywhere else as a result of that.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on and .

Concerned, Pierce took down the classmate鈥檚 name and passed it on to the Kingdom East School District鈥檚 homeless liaison, Lori Robinson, who said the family 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� qualified for services like transportation help and nutritional assistance. 

It鈥檚 a scenario Superintendent Jennifer Botzojorns has seen play out repeatedly. Her bus drivers, many of whom have been in their roles for over a decade, frequently function as the eyes and ears of the rural district, helping schools support students who may otherwise slip through the cracks.

鈥淭hey really know their routes and they know the kids, so they can see if suddenly kids [are missing] a winter coat when they had one in the past 鈥� or there’s no car in the driveway,鈥� Botzojorns said. 鈥淚t’s this hidden relationship that鈥檚 really important.鈥�

As the only adults in the school system who actually see students鈥� homes each day, bus drivers have a unique vantage point on housing instabilities, advocates and practitioners say. 

For Pierce, who鈥檚 shared several tips with Robinson, helping students begins with getting to know them.

鈥淣ow you鈥檙e part of our family,鈥� he tells students when they start riding his bus, part of a specialty transportation service the district contracts with to transport students experiencing homelessness. 

He and his wife purchase gifts for students on their birthdays. Before the holiday, they bought grocery cards and 12-pound hams for each family, he said. Over time, many of the young people have come to lean on him, which he attributes to being a caring adult who is less of an 鈥渁uthority figure鈥� than their teachers.

The students Pierce drives are already dealing with homelessness, but they are also the ones who are most likely to know other students facing the same hardship.

鈥淭he students tell us a lot,鈥� Pierce said. 鈥淚f you want to know who’s homeless and who鈥檚 not, you need to talk to the students, you’ve got to get a good rapport with them.鈥�

U.S. schools identified over a million students 鈥� 2.2% of all learners 鈥� as homeless in 2020-21, the most recent school year for which data are available, according to a . But even those figures undercount the issue as , a telltale sign they are failing to identify youth in need of help.

Students experiencing homelessness have lower overall attendance, standardized test scores and high school graduation rates than any other peer group. The limited data that exist suggest roughly the same share of youth in rural areas like Vermont experience homelessness as in urban areas, but with .

Vermont has the second-highest per capita rate of homelessness in the nation, lower only than California鈥檚, according to a . At the same time, the Green Mountain state provides temporary shelter to a higher share of its residents without homes than any other state, with 98% safely indoors on a point-in-time count from last year.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got a brutal [housing] affordability crisis in Vermont right now,鈥� U.S. Sen. Peter Welch told 蜜桃影视 in an email. The legislator said he is proud of his state鈥檚 efforts to shelter homeless families, but hopes school staff can also be part of longer-term solutions.

Once the Kingdom East school district knows a student is experiencing homelessness, its transportation staff continues to play a key role in supporting the child. If they鈥檙e living at a shelter or motel, the busing director alters the routes so that the student is the first pickup and last dropoff to avoid outing them as homeless to their peers. At the end of the day, district guidance counselors hand off backpacks full of clothes and food to bus drivers who discreetly give them to children in need when they step off.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e backpacks and people don鈥檛 think anything of it,鈥� transportation manager Darlene Jewell said.

Kara Lufkin, the homeless liaison for the St. Johnsbury school system, which neighbors Kingdom East, uses , a Michigan-based company that trains school staff on how to spot the signs of homelessness. The company provided training videos to her district鈥檚 transportation fleet.

鈥淚t’s really just an awareness of what are some things to look for 鈥� that could potentially mean a student was homeless,鈥� she said.

Federal law requires all school staff who serve homeless youth to be trained in the possible signs of homelessness. The policy does not explicitly name bus drivers, or any other role, 鈥渂ut since bus drivers would serve students experiencing homelessness, we’d expect those drivers to be included in the professional development sessions,鈥� said Jan Moore, director of technical assistance at the National Center for Homeless Education. 

However, oversight is lax and many transportation staff never receive the training 鈥� meaning their schools miss a key opportunity to support their most vulnerable students.

鈥淭here are disparities across the board in how, if or when training is occurring,鈥� said Karen Roy, an advisor for MV Learning. 鈥淲e want to make sure everybody is trained in recognizing what some of those red flags might be so that kids are identified. Because if we don’t identify them, we can’t begin to serve them.鈥�

Roy said the drivers who do receive training come out of her sessions often connecting the dots retrospectively on past interactions they鈥檝e had with students. One bus driver in a rural district in northern Michigan, for example, saw two children leave for school directly from a barn in the morning, she said.

鈥淗e didn’t really think about it until he had the training. And then he said, 鈥楬ey, these kids are likely homeless, they’re not living in a safe place.鈥� So he referred them to the liaison.鈥�

Schools are required under the to make sure students experiencing homelessness have 鈥渆qual access鈥� to education 鈥� which often means providing them with food, clothing, transportation and more.

Lexi Higgins runs a program called that trains bus drivers on how to recognize and report human trafficking, an issue she said is 鈥渋ncredibly linked鈥� to homelessness because most youth victims of trafficking are housing insecure when they鈥檙e recruited. Her company has trained drivers from over 2,000 districts.

鈥淸Bus drivers] are sometimes forgotten when we’re talking about education professionals because they’re not on the school campus,鈥� Higgins said. 鈥淏ut they really are playing an incredibly important role 鈥� and have some unique skills based on their job to be able to flag threats to the safety of the students that they’re seeing every day.鈥�

Pierce, the East Kingdom driver, suspects such training sessions will prove to be a fruitful strategy.

鈥淭he drivers are the centerpoint for a lot of this,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檒l bet we鈥檒l find a lot more people who need help.鈥�

Lufkin and Robinson, the homeless liaisons from the neighboring Vermont districts, recently tag-teamed to help a student after a bus driver sounded the alarm. Robinson had lost touch with a family on her caseload, but learned through transportation staff that the student was getting on and off the bus at different locations each day. When she got back in contact, she found out they were fleeing a domestic abuse situation. When the family found an apartment a town over, she connected them to Lufkin. 

The bus driver鈥檚 tip, Robinson said, 鈥渨as the first hint that I had that anything was wrong.鈥�

Math workbooks at a Eugene, Oregon school arrived months into the semester, delayed by paper shortages. 

Some 15 classes at one suburban New York high school were canceled last semester for lack of substitutes. 

In a Maryland high school outside D.C., new pencils were nowhere to be found when classes started in the fall, the victim of supply chain lags and no staff to order them.

Nacho cheese, reliably cheap and available, has become a mainstay on one Indianapolis school鈥檚 lunch menu as spiraling costs and ingredient shortages have led to meals on repeat.    

This is the new normal in schools across the country: Classes are back in person but day-to-day operations are a far cry from pre-pandemic norms, the lingering effects of the COVID crisis challenging everything from staffing and student mental health to school lunches. 

Compiling dozens of examples from survey responses and original reporting, 蜜桃影视 found schools are trying to function and adapt. 

For administrators like Greg Zenion, principal at Chariho Middle School in Rhode Island, this year marks the first time he cannot fill core jobs: teacher assistants, special education teachers and social workers.

鈥淚鈥檓 in a pretty rural, beautiful area. I’m surrounded by soft fields. My building was built in 1989. It’s a great place to work. It’s a beautiful building,鈥� Zenion said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 get people to apply for the jobs. So I think a new normal is how do you run a building short-staffed and how do you get creative to fill your positions?鈥�

Yet educators say necessity can indeed be the mother of invention. 

鈥淒espite all of this adversity being talked about, our school people still got their chin straps buckled up. They’re still ready to go to work, and they’re still over there doing everything they can do for kids,鈥� said Ronn Nozoe, CEO of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. 鈥淭his year is different because folks have found all kinds of creative ways to provide.鈥� 

Some examples: 

To ease the burden of juggling a family with teaching full-time, an Indianapolis school opened free child care for staff on-site. At one Milwaukee school, $20 gift cards are given to teachers who substitute. 

Schools, public and private are all hands on deck 鈥� recruiting drivers and other staff at grocery stores, offering bonus pay. 

But no amount of personal dedication can alleviate systemic strains. Even armored with the optimism inherent to many school leaders, they are coming to terms with a new reality and what鈥檚 at stake. 

鈥淥ur members remain dedicated to kids and excited about [school],鈥� Nozoe said, 鈥渂ut they are, especially the ones who have been around a bit and can see the writing on the wall, worried about the shortages and what that may mean if we can’t augment the workforce quickly enough鈥︹��

As one teacher at a school in Delaware serving a high proportion of students in poverty explained, 鈥渢he students are so burnt out and so are we.鈥� 

To make up for learning loss, teachers at the Delaware school introduce new material on days when students also take mandatory tests. Their veteran teachers are retiring more often, leaving big gaps. One teacher now has regular panic attacks. 鈥淚f it wasn鈥檛 for my incredible coworkers and admin I wouldn鈥檛 be able to do it,鈥� the educator wrote. 

Several educators painted a picture of students changed by core social years spent in isolation in front of screens: less curiosity or interest; individual work preferred to working with peers; missed class and deadlines. Students arrive, and leave, exhausted, but are expected to catch up more than ever before. 

The concerning behavior has made school staff put students鈥� emotional well being first, with more of an emphasis on offering school-based mental health services. 

鈥淭he need was鈥ar more significant than any of us realized,鈥� said Monica Asher, a Columbus, Ohio high school principal. 鈥淒efinitely a new normal is鈥� more of an acceptance鈥o employ social workers, mental health professionals. Pre-pandemic, those were nice if you could get them but鈥ow 鈥hose are necessary.鈥�

Pieced together, the anecdotes offer a clearer image of the American school day as the pandemic continues to have a hold on students, families and educators: 

Morning: For Many, a Transportation 鈥淒umpster Fire鈥�

By 5 a.m., a high schooler in a small city between Orlando and Tampa, Florida is up 鈥� sleep deprived but with a sense of urgency: He has to reach the Wesley Chapel bus hub by 5:59 a.m, to get to class by 7:06 a.m. His school now starts earlier to make up for hurricane days and remote learning. 

鈥淥ur bus situation is pretty much a dumpster fire,鈥� his mother responded in the survey, 鈥�…this is unhealthy for those kids. And half the time the bus isn’t at the hub on time, meaning we parents have to drive the half hour one-way trip to the school鈥� 鈥�

At a community school in northern Georgia, 鈥渟ome teachers at my school delay instruction in order to wait for the late buses. This means that some of the students who are not late to school are sitting idly. It is a huge waste of instructional time,鈥� said a school director.  

In Omaha, Nebraska, the city鈥檚 major urban district serving over 50,000 students has begun cutting routes, increasing the living radius to qualify. 

The underlying culprit, many believe, is simple economics. 

鈥淚 hear from principals all over the country that it’s really hard because of the school bus driver pay,鈥� Nozoe said. 鈥淭hese folks who drive commercially can get more money [in] other venues than driving a school bus. (And) it takes a certain kind of person to drive a school bus. You just can’t turn around and scream at the kids at the top of your lungs.鈥�

First Bell: The Writing on the Wall

At a Milwaukee Catholic high school, social studies teacher Mary Talsky has noticed lots of empty seats. For every email about a kid out sick, she gets three to four times more about absences because of mental health issues: My kid is struggling with anxiety and can鈥檛 come in today; I鈥檓 taking my child to an appointment with a psychiatrist. 

鈥淚 have not seen numbers like this before,鈥� Talsky said. 鈥淢aybe they’re just more willing to say that out loud than they were in the past.鈥�  

Across the country, teachers start the day by opening up adjoining classroom walls 鈥� asked to cover for colleagues.  

Lunchtime: Same Cafeteria, Fewer Options

Brooklyn high school senior Samantha Farrow told 蜜桃影视 students don鈥檛 come to school with COVID as often as they did this time last year. There鈥檚 more understanding from teachers if you miss school for being sick, more flexibility around work turned in late. 

And she鈥檚 noticed another change. 

鈥淚 think a lot of people don’t really sit in the cafeteria anymore, because it feels like a superspreader event,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o a lot of people eat in the hallways or go outside to eat.鈥�

Further west, at Adelante, a K-8 school in Indianapolis, students in the lunch line see now familiar sights: yellow and plastic. Nachos and frozen items make the cut often: as is the case in , food distributors have increased the dollar price per meal. Others districts have trouble finding ingredients.

鈥淥ur food services are still鈥eeling from the overall cost (and) day to day shortages of what can be offered fresh and what can’t 鈥� which can result in kids having to repeat meal patterns day in and day out鈥︹�� said Jordan Habayeb, managing director at Adelante. 

鈥淲e have to dip into [federal] funding,鈥� to offset the increases in food costs, 鈥渨hich then means we have to kind of take the gas off of something else,鈥� Habayeb said. On the chopping block is funding to expand after school clubs. Fifteen are offered, half as many as schools nearby. 

Afterschool: Trade Offs

Come day鈥檚 end in Snellville, Georgia, some students pass on tutoring or afterschool clubs: There is no late bus.

In New Orleans, the principal of a Spanish immersion school reviews applications for new English teachers, the need for more instructors after students spent nearly a year learning remotely and only hearing Spanish spoken at home. 

A high school administrator in Antioch, Illinois starts making calls: Their school furniture supplier has had trouble filling orders.

At the Indianapolis school with plenty of nachos and cheese, about 40 students and staff鈥檚 own kids file into a new free after care program that offers in-depth math tutoring. Fifteen families are on the waitlist. 

And in southern Florida, Haines City High School families head to dinner, part of a new 鈥淧arent University鈥� hosted monthly on-campus. They talk about the new normal around technology, learn how to check their childrens鈥� grades and progress toward graduation requirements. 

鈥淚 think it is really important to remember that yeah, [the pandemic] was pretty bad,鈥� said New Orleans middle school principal Laura Adelman-Cannon, who had to rebuild post-Katrina. 鈥淏ut there have been other really bad things. And we made it through, right? It’s possible.鈥�

Without viable transportation options, some families can鈥檛 reap the benefits of school choice even if they want to. States can pass laws to allow students to enroll in public schools outside of their zip codes 鈥� but those opportunities are meaningful only if families can afford to make the trip.

While solving the transportation puzzle is as much a logistical challenge as it is a policy one, one thing is clear: Traditional yellow school bus routes alone won鈥檛 cut it.

K-12 school transportation is one of the most regulated sectors in the nation鈥檚 economy. At the federal level alone, can promulgate laws and regulations that directly affect the industry. Generally, these laws and rules relate to safety standards for school buses as well as the vehicles’ sales and manufacturing. States impose regarding who qualifies for K-12 school transportation, how it鈥檚 paid for and the types of vehicles public school districts can use.

Understandably, these heavy regulations aim to maximize student safety. But they aren鈥檛 without their tradeoffs.

First, federal and state rules heavily limit the types of vehicles districts can employ for school transportation. For instance, according to from Bellwether Education Partners, only eight states allow for the use of smaller passenger vans for carrying children to and from school. And even in this small group of states that don鈥檛 limit themselves to big yellow buses, the availability of alternative vehicles is severely restricted by federal regulations prohibiting the sale of any vehicles to schools, public or private, that don鈥檛 meet the definition of a 鈥渟chool bus鈥� by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. The agency only allows for seven types of buses to be sold for the purpose of transporting students to and from school. These are specialized vehicles that leave schools with limited choices, and concern every aspect of their design, from stop safety arms to seat size.聽

State laws also make it difficult to accommodate students who cross . According to a 2020 published by EdChoice, only six states require transportation services for any student enrolled in a public school district outside their own at a level roughly equivalent to what districts must provide for students who live within their boundaries. In most cases, either don鈥檛 address who is responsible for school transportation when students cross district lines or put the onus on the families.

Of course, districts can鈥檛 be expected to provide whatever level of transportation service nonresident families might desire 鈥� that would be unreasonable. But if a district is prepared to receive the education funds that accompany a new enrollee from outside its boundaries, some level of transportation support should be provided for that student, ideally by the district.聽

In the same way that schools are expected to use a students’ education dollars to teach them, they should provide transportation services or, at least, funding to help the family organize alternatives.

Wisconsin, for instance, places responsibility for transportation across district boundaries on parents, but there is state of up to $1,200 a year for low-income families who participate in interdistrict school choice. While the policy isn鈥檛 perfect, it prudently recognizes both district limitations in providing transportation services and families’ limitations in paying out of pocket to get their kids to a school that serves them best.

In addition to clearing away policy barriers that restrict transportation access for students exercising school choice, state legislators should also allow districts to look beyond big yellow buses. While federal regulations make it difficult for school districts to purchase a more diverse fleet of vehicles, states like Arizona now provide financial incentives for school districts with ridesharing companies like HopSkipDrive, which specializes in school transportation.聽

operates similarly to other ridesharing companies like Uber, albeit with more thoroughly vetted drivers who can use any four-door vehicle that鈥檚 less than 10 years old. The company offers specialized services that the yellow school bus system can鈥檛 efficiently provide, such as transportation for individual students with disabilities or for small groups of children to schools of choice or sporting events. 

No silver bullet will solve the transportation challenges brought about by increasing public school choice. But if state policymakers place greater responsibility for transportation on public education providers and give school districts greater flexibility to find solutions, school choice will be more attainable for more families.

Christian Barnard is a senior policy analyst at .

An interesting set of case examples is surfacing as districts race to handle transportation issues this fall. Fueled by pandemic fears, strained labor markets and vaccine requirements, widespread shortages of bus drivers have left many districts scrambling to find a way to get kids to school as classes started up again. Newspaper headlines have blared stories of unfilled bus driver positions, delays in school start dates, canceled bus routes and hours-long waits for kids.

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Getting students to school is critical: Children can鈥檛 learn while waiting for the bus.

How districts react to these unusual labor challenges may be telling us something important: Whether they can adapt to meet the moment and which, if any, will consider adopting innovations that are common in other industries outside of education.

At one end of the scale, a handful of districts have struggled to solve their transportation problems. Districts in Pittsburgh and Rochester, New York, were and . In Anchorage, school is on, but the normal with no substitute in place.

Then there are districts doing more of the usual stuff, for example by offering across-the-board raises and more benefits to attract drivers. In a move late last month, Fairfax County in Virginia . Shelby County in Kentucky will provide part-time workers like bus drivers with .

But, it turns out that a surprising number of districts are pivoting in more significant ways, and doing so with warp speed. We鈥檝e seen impressive shifts to re-envision compensation packages and even rethink working conditions to fill driver positions. A few districts have come up with creative (if temporary) workforce solutions. Perhaps most impressive are those completely rethinking how they provide transportation.

On pay, in the hopes of attracting new drivers and retaining existing employees, numerous districts have introduced a range of hiring and retention incentives with bonuses and enticements previously considered off limits in public education, where uniform pay tied to length of service has been standard practice. In recent weeks, districts like New Haven, Connecticut, have dangled cash through . In Springfield, Missouri, new drivers can receive an extra $4,000 if they stick around for the full school year, while existing employees can , serving as a peer coach to a new driver, maintaining a safe driving record and consistently showing up to work on time.

While these types of incentives have long been routine in the private sector, they are relatively uncommon in public education.

Other districts have changed working conditions and tapped new labor markets. Bozeman, Montana, for instance, is and trying to entice college students by . One New York State congressman is seeking .

In Massachusetts, the governor moved quickly to to provide temporary drivers in districts that could not find sufficient staff.

We think even more promising are the districts redesigning their delivery model altogether, often through the use of an emerging concept called co-production. Co-production is a mechanism where . In this case, parents are given incentives to arrange transportation previously provided by the district’s centralized bus service.

Enticement runs the gamut. The Lansing school district in Michigan began offering city bus passes and worth $25 a month to parents willing to drive their children to school. Some places are offering willing to take on the responsibility of getting their child to class, to the tune of and in .

The idea of paying parents may sound relatively simple and easy, but in practice, districts have had to navigate numerous roadblocks and make quick decisions to get it to work. In talking to district leaders, we鈥檙e hearing them sort through thorny decisions about the right payment schedule, who qualifies and whether to make payments contingent on attendance. They鈥檝e had to consider tax implications and set up debit cards or find a vendor to issue the payments. In some cases, they had to work around state laws requiring district-provided transport (in New Jersey, policymakers that its state rules don’t mandate a yellow bus service).

In the larger context, paying parents to participate in getting their kids to school is a new and counterintuitive idea, especially for districts without a track record of seeing parents as formal partners in the education process. While districts have long touted the role of parents, an interesting question is whether this strategy of paying families for transportation could pave the way for similar strategies in other parts of the education puzzle. Would districts consider paying parents to ensure that kids have good attendance, or do their homework, or show up for tutoring? Or will some of these initiatives be viewed as short-term responses born out of necessity, due to the pandemic shortages or as a way to encourage social distancing?

Amid the flurry of activity, of course, some attempts will fail; that鈥檚 part of the innovation process. The first solution Chicago announced was a partnership with Uber and Lyft, which was quickly scrapped, as drivers lack sufficient background checks to work with children.

Some of the ideas districts are floating may not sound worthy of 鈥渋nnovation鈥� status, but the changes reflect a serious departure from standard practice. Even one-time incentives for new hires can run up against longstanding labor agreements that prioritize standardization for all employees. Historically, has been to solve problems by adding more staff and to pay them using standard salary schedules. But that approach isn鈥檛 working as well these days.

All told, responses to the bus driver shortage make clear that some districts are better than others at pivoting to meet the moment. While COVID-19 has sparked rapid changes in ways never before seen in public education, it shouldn鈥檛 take a crisis to spur creative solutions. In many districts, transportation hasn鈥檛 worked well for years. Some of the innovations we鈥檝e highlighted here are ; let鈥檚 hope that more places learn from these efforts and apply this same sort of creative thinking to other aspects of schooling. At a time when dramatic changes are upending so much of what schools have taken for granted, it may be the case that the districts that can adapt and innovate will be the ones best able to help their students succeed in the months and years ahead.

Chad Aldeman is policy director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. Marguerite Roza, Ph.D., is director of the Edunomics Lab and a research professor at Georgetown University.