A redundant education bureaucracy in North Texas was recently caught failing to reprimand over two hundred bus drivers ticketed for recklessly – and repeatedly – violating traffic laws.
An NBC 5 investigation found hundreds of bus drivers for Dallas County Schools (DCS) routinely running red lights, blowing through stop signs, and passing other buses loading/unloading children.
Even worse, DCS did absolutely nothing to punish the drivers until after the investigation. DCS’s prior “solution” was to waste taxpayer funds by paying the huge volume of traffic tickets and ignoring the problem.
The investigation comes shortly after the costly, inefficient, and redundant layer of education bureaucracy came under fire by State Sen. Don Huffines (R-Dallas), who’s calling for it to be abolished next legislative session.
In response to Huffines’ op-ed in the Dallas Morning News, DCS’s Superintendent fired back with his own op-ed, claiming DCS is essential to provide reliable and “safe” transportation services. According to DCS, they’re all about “protecting” the kids.
It’s now clear the safety of children – and that of the public at large – is not a priority for DCS.
Following NBC’s investigation, DCS fired thirteen drivers and suspended another 229. Records obtained found more than 480 traffic citations have been issued to school bus drivers since Jan. 1, 2014. Without the investigation, the reckless driving would have continued.
The local education establishment has been rocked by a series of shocking news reports demonstrating the extreme risks they will take to protect their own employees, even if doing so requires risking the well-being of children.
Earlier this year, it was revealed school districts such as Dallas and Propser ISD are protecting potential sexual predators in a disturbing scheme they call “passing the trash.” The “trash” refers to teachers who are quietly shuffled to other school districts after resigning due to alleged sexual misconduct, all in an effort to avoid media scrutiny and state investigators. In many cases, superintendents are violating state law by failing to report these cases to at the Texas Education Agency. They’d rather protect bad apples and keep them employed inside the system.
DCS’s ticketing scandal is yet another example of local governments who place their employees’ job security ahead of taxpayers, the public at large and – most importantly – the safety of Texas’ children.
