Take A Stand

To the Editor:

When I got the news of a possible change of hands concerning Newtown’s educational busing, I decided to avoid gossip and just wait for the results. As it became clearer that MTM might not be a sure thing, I began to realize that I must become involved. We all must be active with our support.

Still edging away from a plethora of details, I have surmised one major point — I see virtually the whole town asking and asking; pleading the board to keep MTM and its already-in-place, smoothly running system. And unfortunately I see the Board of Education blatantly ignoring the taxpayers and unashamedly hashing over what on paper is a very small amount of money (comparatively).

In realty, MTM reveals itself as the better bargain, especially over time. Has All-Star accounted for the amount of money it will cost for a complete overhaul of the whole system? Have they included training, learning the ropes, and certainly some plain old mistakes that will need extra funds? It is not going to be a super-smooth transition, and we are doing this now?

We are in the midst of an economic landslide. Please don’t tell me that a huge change doesn’t have its hidden costs!

What about the question of will there be aides for special needs children? The answer I got was that All-Star will provide aides as needed. So, have they counted “some” aides into their calculations? More importantly, who decides what child needs an aide and what child doesn’t? This is an absolutely ridiculous concept. Special needs children need an aide at all times, on every bus or van, and MTM provides that, always. And it is already figured into their numbers.

All-Star has also kept its numbers down by paying at least $2 an hour less (than MTM) to its bus drivers, and being paid “by the run” inevitably causes dissention to break out, as seniority fights over extra runs.

So, in general, if the Board of Education decides to hire All-Star, in my opinion, it is pooh-poohing Newtown’s taxpayers, MTM bus company employees, and the owner/operators who chose this town for their careers.

The MTM/Board of Education co-existence here is truly unique and it does work. What a shame to see it lost to the big conglomerates for a sum of money that will not be saved anyway.

The lack of moral consideration is sickening. Please come and take a stand on Tuesday evening in the Reed School library. It is time to show our numbers.

Respectfully

Betsy Bauer

62 West Road, Vista, N.Y. May 13, 2009