The Out-Of-Control Bus Goes Crash, Crash, Crash

I love it. Insight into the Great Oz - the HCPS. Please note that I am making comments about the system, not individuals. While we can assume that individuals are the cause of the failure of the system, most of us are not privy to which individuals and to what extent each individual contributes to the failure of the system. Therefore, I am not speaking of "isolated incidents" nor am I making "broad brush attacks", to which we know the system is inoculated against (dripping with sarcasm known to my frequent readers).


If one goes to this link and clicks on the related links:
Related Links

Consultants' Report (PDF)
Consultants' Report (PDF of PowerPoint slides)

then read the reports. They are eye opening at least that "out there" there are true professionals that understand the systemic challenge of busing.


One gets the idea from reading the report that bus schedules are still done like they were 30 years ago, similar to weather reports being done by throwing a dart at a chart.

Today's HCPS fiasco was predicted, and it was reported how and why it would happen in 2006. And, this prediction was paid for with our money.

Here is just the beginning:

"The transportation program at the Hillsborough County Schools is not in crisis, but is under significant pressure. While costs are reasonable relative to industry norms, they are increasing while the quality of service is rapidly deteriorating. Left unchecked, this trend will inevitably lead to major service disruptions and a concurrent loss of confidence in the system. This situation has been studied a number of times, and is generally well understood. This Transportation Improvement Plan represents the culmination of an effort to define a coherent improvement strategy that will reverse the trend of decline and set the program on a path towards stability and long-term success.
The time for further study is, we believe, long since past. The time for action is now. As such, the focus of the project undertaken by Management Partnership Services, Inc. (MPS) was to define the nature and root causes of the department’s shortcomings, and to develop an action oriented plan for improvement. Rather than focus on describing our findings and providing a list of disconnected and impractical recommendations, this document describes a coherent plan for implementation of improvements with only a minimum of explanatory and supportive background discussion.

The Baby on the Bus Goes Whah, Whah, Whah

Bus Chaos Travels Familiar Route

I don't have enough information to point fingers at individuals, nor should that be my responsibility as a member of the public.

However, as a member of the public, I can ask what is it about the system that creates such a dysfunctional program. Finally, the HCPS transportation issue has deteriorated to the point that it can no longer be glossed over and defended with the "isolated incident and broad brush attack" defense.

Eric Martin paid for the dysfunctional system with his life. All his mother wanted was the system to be fixed. All she got was $200,000. (read the article).

I want to thank the local media for finally airing the issues of dysfunction. Hopefully it will cause a change at our local level, which is what has the most direct influence on our kids, despite the smoke and mirror defense of outside causes such as lack of money.