I drive a school bus for Cobb by choice. I get up every day proud of the job I have. I love working with the children and parents. They become family. I anxiously await the news from "Bobby" or "Susie" about their evening prior, their grades and progress at school. I worry about them when they are sick, just as if they were my own. That is why the news about privatizing hurt me so. These babies are not going to be the purpose of the job that way. I fear that without parental and community support this takeover might be allowed. Right about now it may seem easier to just let someone else deal with it. That is a mistake - one our children will pay for.
As it stands, we have the children's best interest in mind. We have good equipment, we have trained personnel that have gone thru vigorous background checks, we have communication with parents and administrators. We have policies that protect the children, designated stops with printed times that are strictly followed. We will return to pickup a child to ensure they get to school safely. We are highly trained professionals who care about the children, not the job. Yes, people will say "Oh they do it for the benefits." Well let me tell you that those people do not know the whole story, we are not the ones with those benefits. Bus drivers are here for one reason. We want this job, it is our choice to be here.
We have terrific mechanics and supervisors, who also truly care about the children. For me, the district I work in is like family, as I think the whole county is. And in any family you have some issues, just like we have had. But what sets us apart from a private company is this - responsibility. We all have our own sense of responsibility for these children. Everything we do revolves around those children, not the job. I would guarantee you that any bus driver, mechanic, teacher, parapro or administrator would agree with me on this. We focus 100 percent on the safety and well being of every child. You will not find that in a private company. They will not be held to the same standards as us. That is scary to me and should be to all.
Yes we had some minor issues. We have fixed our wrong and grew from it a better department. We need for people to understand that this private company takeover is a really bad idea for our children. Why make them pay the price they will have to pay if this happens? We can come together and take the cuts that are needed in stride.
Parents, stand behind us on this. You do not want private owners! They will do as they see fit and no public input what so ever! Help us help your children now!
Pamela Gullett
Marietta
Follow us on Twitter!
just type in "First Student Bus Problems". Wow quite a record!
Now - type in "Cobb County School Bus Problems" - all you see is positive things and what the county has done to improve their system.
All parents compare the ratings between the two. That will answer you question, "what is wrong with Privatization".
Business/political entities pay; Social Security match (6.2%) if they opt in, pension contributions, medical/dental/eye care and who knows what else. This number can be 20-30% of wages; get rid of the employee, get rid of the burden.
This is why outsourcing is so popular? Theoretically you can still provide the same level of service and transfer the hidden cost to some one else . This is wrong, in many ways.
There is no easy answer to the budget issue, but the bureaucratic organization behind the scenes needs to shrink before the first line employee...
1. Most of the time, do you really get good service when calling an 800# for "customer support" that usually ends up being in a foreign country? Most of the time NO. Privatizing or outsourcing the transportation is the same principle.
2. The vast majority of the school bus drivers do enjoy their job, but they also enjoy & need the medical benefits. A private compnay will not offer the same good benefits & therefore you will get inferior drivers who come and go. Not the same quality or stability as the employees now who drive our children.
1) Not completing background checks on drivers
2) Buses not showing up or being extremely late on a regular basis
3) Drivers being unsafe
4) Not protecting the safety of the children.
And this company apparently does not return calls or simply says "sorry".
Unfortunately our school board has a history of repeating other school systems' mistakes. Hopefully that won't happen here.
What is it that a for-profit company can provide that the county cannot? Better management? Better efficiency? Lower human resources costs?
Seems that can be done in house if someone had the cajones to make it happen and hold people accountable.
The system is a multi-million dollar enterprise and it is apparent that local small-time politicos are ill equipped to be at the helm.