PUBLISHER’S CORNER
All Questions, No Answers Amid Budgetary Madness
WRITTEN BY TONY CORPIN |
TONY@STNONLINE.COM A
s I sorted through the headlines for inspi- ration this month, I jumped on
cnn.com only to be greeted by numerous stories on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Hidden in plain sight beneath these all-important stories on “March Madness” was news on the Trump administration’s federal budget proposal. Many opinions are swirling about regarding the pro- posed increases to private and charter school of choice programs, infrastructure, border security and immi- gration enforcement, as well as drastic cuts to the State Department and EPA budgets, upward of 30 percent. Tis has some industry transportation professionals concerned about the future of funding. So, what does that mean for programs like the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, or DERA? One student transporter in Utah who I spoke with opined that the DERA grant program aimed at retrofitting older, dirty diesel school buses or replacing them with cleaner models could be in jeopardy. Te transportation director said the district has in the past taken advantage of grant funds under the Obama administration.
Te school district had been in the process of secur- ing 10 buses but was told to temporarily put things on hold during the presidential transition. Fortunately, the district was recently given the greenlight to proceed but was advised to do so with haste. One might suggest that this signals the new administration’s move away from a cleaner environmental focus, or at least a desire to tap the brakes to first analyze the program. With the pending VW Mitigation Trust Fund money looming, the administration might be looking to earmark those funds to offset environmental needs instead of it adding to the general pool of current funding, especially as Trump released his proposed budget that is looking to cut just about everything ex- cept defense, immigration controls and school voucher programs. But the VW settlement is only a temporary funding solution for those lucky to participate. I’m hearing lots
58 School Transportation News • APRIL 2017
speculation around the industry on this topic, too. Meanwhile, President Trump’s proposed budget would pump $1.4 billion into school choice programs, and set aside hundreds of millions of dollars for charter schools and a new private-school choice program. Could this greatly improve funding for school trans- portation services? Will more public schools be provid- ed any additional funds to access? Te proposed immigration reform could also drastically affect student populations at our schools by reducing school ridership. One transportation profes- sional I spoke with said that there seems to be a lot of concern in his district about children being deported if their families are identified as being in the country ille- gally. It’s very scary to think this could happen to kids, but the administration’s stance remains aggressive. Presidential budgets, of course, must first be ap-
proved by Congress, which seems to be in a continual state of flux every two years. Te make up of both House and Senate chambers can quickly change, per- haps significantly, if the American people are unhappy with how things are going. But a budget, in one form or another will be passed this year. Time will tell how it will all trickle down to the schools and impact school transportation, positively or negatively. And we have yet to discuss possible ramifications of
a repeal and replace of the Affordable Care Act? Might this work to the advantage of school budgets yet strip some employees of benefits? Tere is no shortage of important issues for the industry to think about. ●
Tony Corpin, Publisher
CELEBRATING25YEARS
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
