The Role of the School Bus in Education - Essay Example

Your full and number School Bus Drivers and Their Role in Education “I am a school bus driver” to many sounds like a rather boring even menial job – one step up from a school hall monitor. A bus driver, however, is much more than a person who simply drives children to and from school. He or she also provides a stable environment which for some children can be up to three to four hours a day, depending upon the route, which in many districts can mean picking up children fairly far from the school early in the morning and dropping them off at a fairly late hour of the afternoon. How a student’s day begins as well as how it ends can have a great bearing on how a student performs for a variety of reasons within the control of the driver, including feelings of safety and security while in the hands of a person responsible for getting them to and from the educational environment. In that, the bus must be considered an educational environment in and of itself, and the driver the central core of that experience. As Gray found, “school buses [and their drivers] can be vital to a students ability to learn” (para. 2). Firstly, salaries for bus drivers as reported by Salary Wizard can range from $26,000 in the lower percentile up to $36,000 in the seventy-fifth percentile, “with the median expected salary [of] $31,314” (para. 1), a salary equivalent to a beginning teacher salary in many areas. Quoting from a website that provides the typical driver job description, we see that in addition of dropping and picking up students on school days, and driving them to and from field trips and sports events the driver, he or she must also possess the following character traits and skills: Because the physical safety of students is paramount, drivers must be trustworthy and reliable and have excellent driving records. They must be alert in heavy traffic or bad weather and exercise great caution when children are getting on or off the bus. In some instances, they may have to maintain order and discipline unruly students, so they must know the school systems rules for student conduct. Sometimes they must prevent unauthorized persons from getting on their buses. (State University.com para. 3) Added to above, he or she “must possess strong customer service skills, including communication skills and the ability to manage large groups of people with varying needs” (CollegeGrad.com para. 2). Examining each of these responsibilities in context we see how the position relates to the educational experience of each child, supporting the view stated in the introduction that the school bus driver plays a significant role in education and the holistic student’s educational experience. The first experience that may be controlled by the driver is bullying, a problem well publicized and discussed in today’s educational environment. The degree of control and discipline a driver exerts on a bus is directly related to this issue. Being aware of these types of situations among students a driver can not only put a stop to it as soon as he or she sees is and also communicate the issue to appropriate school officials to be dealt with by administrators and teachers. In fact, it is more likely these types of behaviors will manifest themselves on the bus than in obvious situations when students might exhibit them for fear of teachers observing them and subsequently getting parents involved. In addition to putting a stop to this type of behavior, a driver with strong communication skills and presence can exert the same type of disciplinary expertise in his or her realm of influence as can a teacher with similar skills. Hence we often see buses where students seem out of control versus those where students ride in an orderly manner, respecting the environment and fellow students. This is an important educational learning experience that transcends the ride and, beginning the day in an orderly environment, overlaps into the classroom. Having ridden school buses, I can attest to how the ride to school sets the tone for behavior at school and in the classroom. It is sad, as Gray found, that “While there have been some isolated programs in places like Deming, N.M., and Bradenton, Fla., that promote school buses as an extension of the classroom, not enough has been done within the industry to make the connection” (para. 5). The character of a driver also plays a role. If a child is on a daily basis feels the driver, as the authority in that aspect of the school day is not meeting his or her responsibility the child may begin his or her day by feeling insecure and at the mercy of influences over which he has no control, in short, the lack of secure environment becomes a safety issue. I say this because a rowdy uncontrolled crowd of students is likely to distract the driver from his or her duties. A “wild ride” so to speak to school encourages a wild attitude from the time the students leave the bus and permeates his or her attitude while in school; a wild ride home does the same in terms of the attitude that walks into the home. A calm environment promotes a sense of security and discipline which translates into that attitude being brought both into the classroom and into the home environment. While it is clear he or she also provides a stable environment that environment for some children can be up to three to four hours a day, depending upon the route, which in many districts can mean picking up children fairly far from the school early in the morning and dropping them off at a fairly late hour of the afternoon. Regarding this issue and its effect on education, Gray quotes Time Magazine and the exception it takes to overly long rides to school. “...69 percent of eighth-graders score below proficient in reading. How can the school bus ride time, which many parents and educators continue to express concern about, be better utilized as learning time” (para. 5)? Beyond the actions and demeanor of the driver and school bus environment, the very absence of transportation for students in certain areas presents a problem for education itself. Gray writes, “If children cant get to school in the first place, that presents a very big obstacle to improving the nations educational achievement and bringing the United States on par with or surpassing other industrialized countries. In short, while transportation to school is a given in most more populated areas, it is not a guarantee in more rural areas where budgetary considerations may preclude it. Even in some populated suburban areas busing has become a contentious issue as school boards, trying to save money, have put mileage restrictions on school busing, leaving some parents, especially those who work, in a morning frenzy, trying to drive children to school and make it to work on time. Considering all of the facts presented, school bus drivers are, in my opinion, an important factor in U.S. education success or failure and have a great impact on students and student attitudes toward learning and the learning environment.   Works Cites CollegeGrad.com. Career Information: Significant Points. 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2010 from:< http://www.collegegrad.com/careers/trans04.shtml> Gray, Ryan. “The Yellow School Bus Receives High Profile Treatment in Time Magazine.” September 15, 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2010 from: http://www.stnonline.com/blogs/daily-routes/2698-time-mag-school-bus-education-reform Salary Wizard. Basic Report. November, 2009. Retrieved September 20, 2010 from: State University.com. School Bus Driver Job Description, Career as a School Bus Driver, Salary, Employment - Definition and Nature of the Work, Education and Training Requirements, Getting the Job. Retrieved September 20, 2010 from: Read More