A bill will go under discussion in California’s senate, that if passed, will provide free transportation for students in the state between their neighborhoods and schools to ensure attendance.
"The California Department of Education released data indicating that lack of transportation to school was one of the most common reasons students miss school," said Sen. Nancy Skinner, who authored the bill.
According to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, without a high school diploma, Americans are almost twice as likely to live in poverty. The senator says that when students do not have school transportation, their parents generally have to take them to class, but “parents who traditionally work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. have difficulty taking their children to school. ”
In addition to helping students attend school, State Bill 878 will provide home-to-school transportation for all California public school students and help mitigate the climate crisis, especially if the bus fleets have zero pollutant emissions.
The bill offers another perspective, that of student safety. It reads, "fatal accidents involving teenage pedestrians have increased at alarming rates, as it is found that teenagers are increasingly getting into accidents from using cell phones, listening to music and other distractions."
“A study of pedestrian behavior found that 80 percent of all students across the street unsafely and 31 percent are distracted by actively texting while walking to school,” Skinner warned.
He said it's important to consider that school bus transportation can reduce pedestrian deaths and injuries among students on their way to and from school.
