Ohio School Bus Crunch: A Complex Issue of State Mandates and Financial Burdens

A severe shortage of bus drivers in Ohio has left thousands of high school students without reliable transportation to school, as public school districts are no longer able to provide bus services due to state regulations and financial constraints. The issue has been exacerbated by the state's expansion of the EdChoice voucher program, which requires public districts to transport students to private and charter schools, even on district holidays or when buses break down.

Key Takeaways:

• Over 20,000 high school students in Ohio are affected by the cancellation of bus transportation due to driver shortages and state regulations.
• Public school districts in Ohio are required to transport students with EdChoice vouchers, but disputes over how to do that have intensified as the program has added nearly 90,000 students over the past four years.
• The state has diverted approximately $2.5 billion in state education funding to the voucher program over the next two years, while still requiring public districts to foot transportation costs for those students.
• Dayton Public Schools runs 54 bus routes for its students and 74 for non-public students, highlighting the significant financial burden on districts.
• Republican state Sen. Andrew Brenner has accused public education advocates of trying to exclude students from voucher programs and has stated that lawmakers have provided districts with $1,500 per student to cover the costs of transporting voucher students.
• Public school districts argue that transporting both public and private students costs way more than the state provides for it, contributing to budget woes.
• The state has sued Columbus schools for allegedly shirking mandates about transporting voucher students, with the case still pending.

Statistics:

• Over 20,000 high school students in Ohio are affected by the cancellation of bus transportation.
• The state has diverted approximately $2.5 billion in state education funding to the EdChoice voucher program over the next two years.
• Dayton Public Schools runs 54 bus routes for its students and 74 for non-public students.
• The district could easily provide bus rides for all of its public school students if the state ended some of the requirements about transporting voucher students.
• The state has provided districts with $1,500 per student to cover the costs of transporting voucher students.

Sources:

• A scramble is underway for some Ohio families over a staple of the back-to-school season: rides on the big, yellow school bus. (Associated Press)
• Advocates for public education argue Ohio's transportation mandates are inflexible, vague and expensive. (Associated Press)
• "To know that they are having to take those public dollars to funnel into other entities is not a fair situation, and I don't think that it's right," said Ronnee Tingle, a Dayton mom whose 7th-grader rides the school bus. (Associated Press)
• Dayton Superintendent David Lawrence calls it "madness" that the Republican-led Legislature diverted roughly $2.5 billion in state education funding to the voucher program over the next two years. (Associated Press)
• Republican state Sen. Andrew Brenner, a school choice advocate who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said he doesn't believe that financial hardship, logistical nightmares and driver recruitment challenges are creating a school transportation crisis in Ohio. (Associated Press)
• Public school districts argue that transporting both public and private students costs way more than the state provides for it, contributing to budget woes. (Associated Press)