[Vision2020] Meridian School Bus Controversy

[Ron Force]

One of the comments on the Statesman article advised those who were complaining 
about the lack of school buses in Meridian to toughen up and accept the personal 
responsibility of getting their own kids to school instead of depending on the 
government... or hire a nanny do it.

Ron Force
Moscow ID USA




________________________________
From: Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl.fastmail.fm>
To: Ron Force <rforce2003 at yahoo.com>; vision2020 at moscow.com
Sent: Fri, July 23, 2010 10:56:10 PM
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Meridian School Bus Controversy


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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