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With No Yellow School Bus, Parents Say Academic Performance of Half Nation's Students Likely Suffers

Posted on: Thursday, 13 August 2009, 10:28 CDT

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- More than three quarters (76 percent) of parents say if yellow school bus service ceased, the performance of millions of school children would probably decline. Accordingly, 91 percent of parents agree the yellow school bus is an important factor in making student achievement possible. As the 2009 school year begins and news of school bus budget cuts is heard throughout the country, the parent perspectives uncovered in this American School Bus Council nationwide survey are of heightened relevance.

A majority (57 percent) of parents said they would be strongly opposed to school bus route or bus stop cuts due to lack of funds, with another 20 percent somewhat opposed. Three out of four (76 percent) parents believe that eliminating school bus service would very likely result in large numbers of students being absent more often. That said, school bus transportation budgets are among the first at risk as states and school districts trim costs. Recent examples of cuts include a $2 million transportation budget cut in Colorado's Douglas County, the elimination of 15 percent or 8,500 of Georgia's Cobb County school bus stops and a $3 million budget cut in Hartford, N.Y. affecting 2,000 students.

"Through this survey we learned that parents view the yellow school bus as an enabler of educational achievement, a powerful reason to make this service available to as many students as possible," said Bob Riley, executive director of National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services and member of the ASBC. "Adding to the concern brought on by school bus budget cuts is the fact that school buses, which service half the nation's 52 million students, have been shown by U.S. government studies to be the safest way for kids to get to and from school and are a more eco-friendly option than cars."

Reducing school bus service has environmental repercussions as well. The nation's school bus system eliminates the need for an estimated 17.3 million cars each morning and 2.3 billion gallons of gas annually; in fact, 88 percent of parents indicated this data is an important reason for parents to choose the yellow school bus. In addition to decreasing the overall fuel and traffic savings, budget cuts can limit access to eco-friendly innovations such as hybrid and propane-fueled bus models and emissions-reduction technology.

"The yellow school bus is important to the nation's students for many reasons, but providing kids with access to education on a daily and guaranteed basis proves to be the most valuable reason in the eyes of parents," said Roger Howsmon, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of Blue Bird Corporation and member of the ASBC. "The more school buses on the road, the fewer cars, the less pollution and traffic congestion around schools, and the safer it is for our nation's school children.

For full results of the ASBC survey and 2009 industry estimates on the national economic and environmental impact of school buses, visit www.americanschoolbuscouncil.org.

Study Methodology

The American School Bus Council survey, conducted by telephone by Opinion Research Corporation July 9-20, 2009, reached a random sample of 600 parents of children ages 6-17. The parents were identified from a larger random sample of 3,000 American adults, using Opinion Research Corporation's Caravan omnibus service. The margin of error for the sample of parents is plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

About the American School Bus Council

The American School Bus Council is a coalition of the school transportation industry -- including public and private transportation providers, school bus manufacturers and state officials responsible for pupil transportation. Council members are committed to providing safe, effective, efficient and healthy transportation for the more than 26 million schoolchildren who ride more than 480,000 school buses each day. In 2007, the Council began implementing the annual national Love the Bus campaign each February to raise awareness and appreciation for hundreds of thousands of school bus drivers nationwide who safely transport our nation's children to school each day.

The Council's members include NAPT (National Association for Pupil Transportation), NASDPTS (National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services), NSTA (National School Transportation Association), Blue Bird Corp. of Fort Valley, Ga., IC Corporation of Warrenville, Ill., and Thomas Built Buses of High Point, N.C.

The American School Bus Council was formed in 2006 to educate parents, school officials and lawmakers about the essential role the yellow school bus plays in the safety, health, security and readiness of America's schoolchildren. Council members advocate for increased school transportation funding and advances industry standards on safety, security, environment, energy and access to education that are above and beyond state and federal law.

For more information, visit our Web sites at www.americanschoolbuscouncil.org and www.lovethebus.com.

SOURCE American School Bus Council

Source: PR Newswire

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