[Vision2020] Meridian School Bus Controversy

[Saundra Lund]

A friend on a city council in southern Idaho called me late last night to
share how . . . dysfunctional the GOP is in his particular county (he's a
GOP precinct committee person, although with the results of the State
convention, that may change), and in the course of the conversation, he also
brought up  the article below and read me the last two paragraphs:

 

Ali Hinshaw, president of the Sawtooth Middle School Parent-Teacher
Association, said she has a solution.

"We need to get some new people in the Legislature, because right now
education is not a priority," Hinshaw said. "They're just a bunch of
farmers. And until our kids are more important than cattle, nothing is going
to change."

 

It's sad how people, even the president of the PTA, can be so totally
oblivious to the obvious -- that the Idaho legislature as a whole
(excluding, of course the current Latah County contingent) cares more about
livestock and agriculture than about children and education - until their
own personal ox has been gored.

 

I found myself wondering if Ms. Hinshaw understands that if Idaho teabaggers
like Gresham Bouma are elected, the future for public education will be
infinitely more grim.

 

Food for thought.

 

 

Saundra Lund

Moscow, ID

 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.

~ Edmund Burke

 

***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2010 through life plus
70 years, Saundra Lund.  Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside
the Vision 2020 forum without the express written permission of the
author.*****

 

 

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Ron Force
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2010 8:53 AM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Meridian School Bus Controversy

 

Many parents blame the changes on the Legislature.

In slashing $128 million from the state's public education budget for
2010-11, lawmakers ordered a 10 percent cut in how much each district is
reimbursed for the previous year's busing costs. For Meridian, with more
than 35,000 students, that meant $1 million in lost transportation money,
plus another $369,744 in lost funding because its per-mile cost last year of
$3.68, and per-rider cost of $881 were above the state average of $3.47 and
$835.

District finance director Alex Simpson said each year the state gives a
district 85 percent of what it paid for transportation the previous year. So
the latest 10 percent cut ordered by lawmakers means Meridian's
transportation funding from the state will be 25 percent below what it cost
to operate its bus system last year.

Brad Jensen, director of transportation for the Idaho State Department of
Education, said he has been receiving "all kinds of calls" from parents
since districts announced major cuts would result in changes.
Meridian has had to cut their school bus services and parents are upset. An
excerpt from the story in the Statesman:

"A child walking a mile-and-a-half is a long way," Jensen said. "As a
parent, I would be concerned, too. But we can't bankrupt the transportation
budget. The money is just not in the checkbook."

Things could get worse. Lawmakers have told districts that continuing high
unemployment and stagnant sales tax revenues could mean mid-year holdbacks
of up to 5.5 percent.

Ali Hinshaw, president of the Sawtooth Middle School Parent-Teacher
Association, said she has a solution.

"We need to get some new people in the Legislature, because right now
education is not a priority," Hinshaw said. "They're just a bunch of
farmers. And until our kids are more important than cattle, nothing is going
to change."

Read more:
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/07/22/1275799/meridian-bus-plansspark-ire
.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz0uWHemxXr

 

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