Summary
School districts across the U.S. are reducing bus services due to driver shortages and shifting transportation responsibilities to families, disproportionately affecting low-income households.
In Chicago, where only 17,000 of 325,000 students are eligible for buses, parents are turning to alternatives like ride-hailing apps.
Startups such as Piggyback Network and HopSkipDrive provide school transportation by connecting parents or contracting directly with districts, offering safety measures like real-time tracking and driver vetting.
Critics warn these solutions don’t fully address systemic inequities, as many families still struggle to afford or access reliable school transportation.
I understand rifles: shooting things is fun, deer are plentiful pests made of meat you can eat, and sometimes you need to git varmints out of your crops. I don’t own a gun, but I get why someone in the country might own a rifle. I’ve had enough hunter safety and basic rifle training in summer camp that they’re not foreign or scary.
Handguns make me nervous. They’re only meant to hurt people. I didn’t trust anyone with a handgun. The shooting at my high school (for clarity: after I graduated) took place with as handgun.
I’m glad I now live in a state with stricter gun laws.
And, TBF, we also had plenty of bomb threats phoned in from payphones, at least once a year in high school. It’s not always guns.