TOP STORY
The Intersection of School Choice, Equal Access and Transportation
By Michelle Fisher
— without transportation. Pinellas has seen a 60 percent reduction in buses ser- vicing 80 elementary schools. Conversely, high school students who elected to stay at the same school still receive transporta- tion thanks to arterial routing. “It helps us cut down on routes in that
Choice is a loaded term in many con-
texts, but it can become ever more political in the education field amid talk of equal access, school choice and trans- portation. In this context, the term is also a verb, as in parents “choicing” their child into or out of a school because of its aca- demic performance or other factors. Te recession has shortchanged school
districts and forced them to cut back on transportation services outside of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). School boards in Boston, Seattle, Milwaukee and Roa- noke, Va., have created new attendance zones that some say promote neighbor- hood schools and compromise access. Erica Frankenberg of the UCLA Civil
Rights Project says neighborhood schools and segregated schools have been linked since the 1960s. Take Mobile, Ala., where students marched against the district’s decision to cancel some bus routes due to budget cuts. Students may still attend schools outside the routes but must find their own transportation. When trans- portation services are reduced, issues of fairness emerge because of access. Trans- portation helps some people exercise their right to a fair and equal education. But not everyone.
TRANSPORTATION CUTS FOR UNMANDATED CHOICE SCHOOLS NASDPTS President Charlie Hood says
transportation services for many school choice programs have been slashed be- cause of funding shortfalls. As Florida’s
state director of student transportation, Hood has seen cutbacks impact areas such as Palm Beach County and Pinellas County. Some districts had to create new and arterial routes, moving bus stops out of neighborhoods and onto main arteries, so children attending magnet and other programs outside their zone must be driv- en to these stops. “Tose transportation options are being
cut first in order to keep the buses running,” Hood says. “Communities can do whatever they want in terms of providing transporta- tion, but lower local revenues are definitely an issue. School districts are being squeezed.” Hood says
school transportation is
integral to providing all students equal ac- cess, especially those from disadvantaged neighborhoods who rely on school buses to get them to magnet and other schools in more affluent areas. “We need to ensure that school bus
service continues to be made available to people who need it. To some degree, stu- dents whose families are of limited means probably have a greater dependence on school-district-provided transportation,” he adds. Rick McBride, transportation director
for Pinellas County Schools, says budget cuts of about $11 million forced his de- partment to compress 700 routes down to 500. Te school board implemented a new student assignment plan that trans- ferred elementary students back to their neighborhood school while grandfather- ing in those who preferred to stay put
18 School Transportation News Magazine April 2010
area because we’re not going into neighbor- hoods. We’re transporting 5,400 students out of zone who are not in magnet,” he continues. “During these economic times, it’s fair because they still have the option to go to their same high school. We’re not un- der court mandate, but basically they can apply for any school or program.” NCLB requirements enable families to
choose a better performing school, with transportation provided, if their current school has failed to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) standards. “We set up 17 different routes for that
option after school started, but it’s a very low number of students. It’s a choice of putting a child on the bus for 45 minutes to an hour, so they opted not to,” McBride adds. “Tere were a very small number of kids that took the option.” Denver’s transportation director, Pauline
Gervais, reports a similarly low participation rate for students who qualify under NCLB to attend a higher-performing, out-of-zone school.
She cautions against assuming
transportation cuts are causing a return to neighborhood schools. Also, neighborhood schools should not be viewed in a negative light because of the benefits, including less traffic and fuel consumption and more ex- ercise for kids walking to school. “It’s fair to say that neighborhood
schools have the potential to create segregation, but I don’t think neigh- borhood schools are a bad thing,” says Gervais. “School districts just have to do a better job of providing a better edu- cation in all buildings no matter where they are located.” Gervais notes that DPS is unique because
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