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 Bussing 
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In my school district all of our schools, from elemtary on up, were a mix of inner city kids and the kids that lived in the suburbs. This means that for elementary and high school kids that lived in the city were bussed out, and for middle school kids out of the city were bussed in. This meant that the bus ride for who ever was being bussed was the 30 min drive to whichever part of town, plus however long it took to go to all of the bus stops. The kids that were being bussed may have had a school that was closer to them, but they were not a part of that school district so they could not go unless they had the means to get there.

What do you guys think of this? And have any of you had experience with this?

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Lindsey Evans


Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:00 pm
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Growing up, I didn't know what "city" was. My bus ride was about 45 minutes, and I was one of the last kids to get on (or the first ones off). I think that the length of the bus ride is not important when you weigh the fact that the kids are getting to know other kids from other areas that they would normally never be introduced to. This also helps provide students with a variety of cultures to know, since housing tends to be relatively segregated.

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Amy Middleton


Wed Sep 29, 2004 3:25 pm
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I think that it is crazy to bus someone 30 or 45 mins to a school system when there is one closer, but the person doesn't live in the school district. This applys especially for elementary school kids. If their day starts at 5:30 or so in the morning, they aren't going to make it through the whole school day. I have not personally had an experience with that, but i think that it sounds crazy.

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Abby Hancock


Thu Sep 30, 2004 9:54 am
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I think bussing has a lot of similarities with the tracking topic we were talking about in class last week. It seems like the root of the issue is positive: they want to give all children a fair chance, an equal chance at education. It's part of our constitutional "promise" to our youth. But the problem with both is the way they're being handled. In either case, the students are suffering because of our efforts at integration. (I'm definitely not saying that integration is a bad thing, I'm just critiquing the method.) Be it heterogenous classrooms with inept teachers or heterogenous schools where the children's day (including bus ride round-trip) is longer than many of their parents will spend at work, the children are paying the price for us to experiment on them. From my point of view, the cost seems pretty high on equality. I think we should ask ourselves if there are alternatives to this dilemma. Is there another way that students could be integrated without them dedicating from 45 minutes to an hour-and-a-half of each day to the cause? (By the way, that's up to 7 1/2 hours a week, 30 hours a month.)

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Cassandra Weimer


Thu Sep 30, 2004 2:58 pm
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In the city schools, the bus ride was not as long as those that lived in the country. The children that lived in the country and went to county schools had to ride the bus when they went to middle school. There were two middle schools that were far apart. It was a long bus ride to both. I do not think that it was a great decision. The children should not have to ride the bus for 30 to 45 minutes everyday. I think that they should do something about that.

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Jessica Peters


Fri Oct 01, 2004 10:15 am
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I had about a thirty minute bus ride in elementary school and it was awful. Buses simply are not where I want my children to spend their time. Between the fights, and the fumes, and other things, I hated riding the bus. But I think that another thing to consider has been alluded to already. Children in elementary school should not have to stand outside waiting for a bus in the dark. For safety concerns alone, it does not make sense to have the 'school' day start so early. This goes even further for high school students whose biological clocks (among other things) require them to go to sleep later and later each night. Studies have shown that high school students simply cannot function well at such early hours of the morning, as we all can attest to.

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Justin Stagner


Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:29 am
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I'm going to sound like I'm sitting on the fence with this one but I think there are pos. and neg. aspects to this issue. What is important is that the postitivesa out weigh the negatives. For the kids whose day starts at 6:00am thes may appear to, how shall I say it, suck. However, in the long run if the child is being exposed to a school atmosphere that is more safe, healthy and effective then as a parent the choice is clear. In terms of a surburban child being bussed into the city, this may expose the child to different races and cultures. As an educator, I don't see how that could be viewed as a negative outcome from bussing.

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susan meadows


Mon Oct 11, 2004 3:28 pm
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In my hometown, the school board is considering bussing students for 45 mins to save on bus routes and allow for the other schools to use the busses. My parents are both teachers at the school and they are totally against the proposal as am I. I think that it is ridiculous to put a K-2 student on a bus for 45 mins by the time they get to the classroom they will be ready to explode. I bothers me so much that the school board is trying to accomadate themselves and save money and not considering the negative impact it could have on the students.

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Amy Drum


Mon Nov 01, 2004 10:56 am
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As wrong as it may seem for kids to sit on a bus for 45 minutes, in reality it's the only way some of those children in rural areas could get to school in a regular manner due to schools being placed in central areas. In urban areas, it might be have to do with the quality of schooling in the present area and as tired as the child might be, if it's a better school I don't see why a parent can't request it if it's the policy of the system to have to bus students to be integrated.

Not all parents can drive their kids to schools and if it's mandatory attendance, the bus system might need some updating but in the meantime, it's workable(inconvinent maybe) but it does allow students time to relax between school and home and learn social skills.

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Beth Koplin


Mon Nov 01, 2004 11:46 am
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Where I'm from bus rides lasted anywhere between twenty-five minutes to thirty-five minutes. I live in the country so I never really thought about bussing kids to where they were riding the bus thirty to forty-five minutes because that was how long all of the children at my schools had to ride since we do live in the country regions. I don't agree with bussing if it can be helped because I don't think that its right to put kindergarteners on a bus ride that takes forty-five minutes. Kids would be getting up way to early just to ride the bus. If schools have the resources to do fair and equal bus routes then they should be doing them.

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Amanda Davidson


Mon Nov 01, 2004 10:20 pm
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Personally i didnt have this problem where i grew up, but i think its crazy for kids to half to ride for an hour to school when there might be another one closer to you. As a kid if i had to ride the bus for an hour before i got to school i would be so drained and tired from riding that i really wouldnt want to do work or put alot of effort into my work. Or i would have so much energy from just sitting still for an hour that my teacher probably couldnt handle me cause i would be out of control with bottled up energy

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Telena Snyder


Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:18 pm
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