Louisville schools had a few glitches on opening day and Republicans lost their damn minds

[Ex Lurker]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Republican lawmakers across Jefferson County say enough is enough. They want Governor Andy Beshear to call a special session so lawmakers can take their shot at fixing JCPS. Democrats say that’s not the solution.

The Republicans have a proposed a slate of ideas. Having kids go their closest neighborhood school, charter schools, and a commission to investigate possibly breaking up JCPS.

“It wasn’t just this one thing, which was a complete disaster but we call it an epic failure what this district is going through, its been a series of things,” State Representative Kevin Bratcher (R-District 29/Louisville) said.

Bratcher said JCPS has shown it can’t solve its own problems. He supports lawmakers creating a commission to study breaking up the district, among other ideas.

“Break it into two or three different districts because it’s too big, it’s obviously too big if they can’t even run a bus schedule,” Bratcher said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/jefferson-county-republicans-call-for-special-session-to-fix-jcps/ar-AA1f9MiG

The real story is Louisville implemented new attendance zones to make access to good schools more equitable, which pissed off the GOP. Now they're getting revenge.

[marble falls]

1. Irrumabo eos.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

2. Of course the call

For a special session is ludicrous - that’s what Republicans do.

But this was more than a “few glitches”…when you have to shut down a district for two days because kids are being taken to the wrong schools, dropped at the wrong stops after school, or not getting home until almost 10pm, that’s not just a glitch.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

3. They need to have minds before they can lose them

They don't have those.

[pinkstarburst]

4. They're going to have to change something

They have had to cancel school, possibly through mid-next week (according to what some teachers were told) due to the fact that they can't get the bus routes sorted. They had students on busses until 10 pm on the first day of school.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/11/us/kentucky-schools-transportation-disaster/index.html

The main problem is the bus driver shortage. In 2015, they had 1,000 drivers. Now they're down to 650 (and according to teachers on Reddit, some quit after the debacle Wednesday.) JCPS did not lose 1/3 of its enrollment in that same time period. There is no magic technology, no amazing engineering firm that can create a system of bus routes to compensate for 1/3 of your needed drivers being missing. Sorry. That's just not going to happen.

So they are going to have to change something. Either they have to stop allowing certain kids from riding the busses, making it free lunch riders only, and reduce it to the routes in the lower socioeconomic status neighborhoods, plus special ed, or figure out a way to magically hire 350 drivers in the next 2 days (not likely). I hate the idea of them forcing kids to only go to neighborhood schools. I'm a former teacher. But they're going to have to do something. Everyone is angry at the superintendent and annoyed at the bus routes and acting like this is an organizational problem with kids not knowing their bus stops. It's not. It's simple math. You cannot have 1/3 of your workforce quit and expect the 2/3 who are remaining to carry the load for that missing 1/3 without there being problems.

[hatrack]

5. Or they could (checks notes . . . .) start paying drivers more . . .

[pinkstarburst]

6. Absolutely they should pay the drivers more

...but then (and mind you, I was a teacher for 20 years), when you pay the drivers enough to make that job attractive, you're also going to have to fairly compensate everyone else who does the low paid, unappealing jobs across the school district. That would be all your cafeteria workers, your SRO's, your paraprofessionals, your substitute teachers, your crossing guards. All those people who work those positions will walk off the job (I guarantee it) if bus drivers get a $15K raise (or something huge--which is what it would take to fill those positions) and they get nothing.

And then you will have untrained people with no education, some who may not have even graduated high school, making the same, or close to the same as your teachers, many of whom have advanced degrees. So then you are going to have a problem with your teachers, who are going to demand their salaries go up by that much, too.

Then the question becomes where does the school district find all this money?