Saturday, October 15, 2011

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio Releases Report on NYC DOE Billion Dollar No-Bid Bus Contracts

Here is another e-mail from the NYC Public Advocates Office. For those that are unaware, the NYC Department of Education spends over $1 billion for no bid school bus contrast. We wrote about this recently after a report issued by NYC Comptroller Liu’s office. Were shipping kids all over NYC . When I was a kid I walked to school. There is a link below to review the report and one to sign the petition circulating.

It's a miracle there is any money left to run our public school after the bus and high end consultant bills are paid.

Gregory
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Dear Friends,

If you picked up a copy of the Daily News on Friday, you may have seen two disturbing articles about our NYC school bus system, based on Public Advocate Bill de Blasio’s new report.
The headlines tell much of the story:

“Billion-buck school bus nightmare: Students still stuck in grueling commutes, and operators do nothing”

“Mom spent $20K battling for disabled son who suffered on two-hour bus rides home from school”

The Public Advocate's new report draws on parent surveys and constituent complaints received by our office and presents five straight-forward reforms to help improve our school bus system.
Key findings include a lack of oversight in the current no-bid contract system, unreasonable standards that permit children to spend more than 3 hours on the bus each day, and poor communication that leaves parents in the dark.

> Click here to review the full report & the Public Advocate’s recommendations

We are calling on New Yorkers – parents and non-parents alike – to stand with us to ensure changes to our school bus system are implemented, starting with special education routes where the need for improved service is most acute.

Please sign our online petition by clicking here and let us know if your kids have experienced long delays and other problems with City school buses. You can also share your thoughts with Bill on Facebook & Twitter.

Thank you & have a great weekend,
Jeff S. Merritt
Senior Advisor NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio

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