State transportation cuts unfair to rural students

By Kristin Olsen

 

Two young kids. One attending a school in Escalon and one attending a school in San Francisco. Aren't their lives of equal value? Don't they both deserve the same opportunities for education? Apparently not because the education trigger cuts pulled by Gov. Brown last month result in taking $132 from the Escalon student but only $36 from the student in San Francisco.

 

Last month, California became the first state to completely eliminate transportation funding for schools. Funding for many programs has had to be reduced or eliminated over the last few years in order to deal with California's budget crisis, but this cut to home-to-school transportation unfairly targets students in rural areas.

Rural students rely heavily on home-to-school transportation; most of their families are unable to provide transportation themselves due to the far distance they live from school, conflicting work schedules, or lack of access to transit options… (Read on)

 

Source: Modesto Bee