Education
Schools cut off bus services for children. Parents turn to the driving application

Chicago (AP) -ismael El-amin was Running a daughter to school When a random meeting gave him an idea for a brand new way to travel.
On the way by Chicago, the daughter of El-amina noticed a friend from a category riding together with her own dad once they went to a selective public school on the north side of the city. For 40 minutes they drove along the same crowded highway.
“They wave to each other in the back. I look at my dad. Dad looks at me. And I thought that parents can definitely be a resource for parents, “said El-amin, who began Found Piggyback Network, services that oldsters can use to book rides for their children.
Relying on school buses has been on Fight to find drivers And more students attend school far beyond their districts. As the responsibility for transport to the family, the query of how to replace a standard yellow bus moves, for some it has develop into an urgent problem and a spark of innovation.
State and native governments determine how to widely offer a college bus service. Recently, more has gone back. According to the federal motorway administration, only about 28% of American students drive a college bus questionnaire ended at the starting of last yr. This fell from about 36% in 2017.
Chicago public schools, the Fourth largest district of the nationIn recent years, he has significantly limited the bus service. He still offers rides for disabled people and homeless people, in accordance with the federal mandate, but most families are alone. Only 17,000 of 325,000 students of the district qualify for a college bus rides.
Last week, the school system launched a pilot program that enables some students who attend a magnet outside the neighborly or selective schools to catch a bus in the nearby “Hub Stop”. It goals to start from rides for about 1000 students until the end of the school yr.

It shouldn’t be enough to compensate for the lost service, said Erin Rose Schubert, a volunteer for CPS parents for Buses Advocacy Group.
“People who had money and privilege were able to determine other situations, such as observing work schedules or public transport,” she said. “People who did not do this had to pull their children out of school.”
In Piggyback Network, parents can book a ride for their online student with one other parent traveling in the same direction. Travels cost about 80 cents per mile, and drivers receive compensation using loans for their very own rides for children.
“This is an opportunity for children not to be late in school,” said 15-year-old Takia Phillips during the last Piggyback ride with El-amin as a driver.
The company organized several hundred rides in the first yr operating in Chicago, and El-amin contacts drivers for possible expansion in Virginia, North Carolina and Texas. This is one in all A number of startups which filled the void.
Unlike Piggyback Network, which connects parents, Hopskipdrive contradicts directly with school districts to help students without credible transport. The company launched ten years ago in Los Angeles with three moms trying to coordinate school journeys and now supports about 600 school districts in 13 states.
The regulations stop them from acting in some states, including Kentucky, wherein a bunch of scholars Louisville lobby on their behalf to change it.
After District stopped bus For most traditional and magnetic student schools, the group often called an actual young waste wrote a hip-hop song entitled “Where my bus at?” Song music video He was popular on YouTube with texts reminiscent of: “I am a good child. I also stay in the classroom. Teachers want me to succeed, but I can’t get to school. “
“These bus driver deficiencies do not really leave,” said Joanna McFarland, general director of Hoppdrive. “This is a structural change in the industry that we must seriously take care of.”
HopSkipdrive was a welcome option for the son of Reinai Gibson, Jerren Samuel, who attends a small highschool in Oakland, California. She said that the school cares about meeting his needs of the student with autism, but the district was transported because there is no such thing as a bus from their home in San Leandro.
“Growing up, people talked about children in short yellow buses. They were associated with physical disability and were irritated or ridiculed – said Gibson. “Nobody knows that it is a support for Jerren because he cannot accept public transport.”
Encouraging from his mother helped Jerren overcome the fear of driving with a stranger to school.
“I felt really independent in getting to this car,” he said.

Companies cope with children, claim that they check drivers widely, checking their fingerprints and requiring them to care for children or parenthood. Drivers and kids often receive slogans that must match, and fogeys can track the child’s whereabouts in real time through the application.
Kango, a competitor of HopSkipdrive in California and Arizona, began as a free application for a journey similar to the Piggyback network, and now he concludes contracts with school districts. Sara Schaer said that drivers receive greater than usual for Uber or Lyft, but there are sometimes more requirements, reminiscent of bringing some disabled students to school.
“This is not only the situation of the air conditioning curb, three minutes,” said Schaer. “You are responsible for taking this kid to school and from school. This is not the same as transporting an adult or decoration of someone’s lunch or dinner. “
In Chicago, some families who use Piggyback said they saw little alternatives.
Worrying about the growing city crime indicator, a retired policeman Sabrina Beck never considered her son to take Metro to Whitney Young High School. Since she led him, she volunteered through Piggyback to lead a primary -year student who qualified for a selective magnet school, but he was unable to reach.
“To have the opportunity to go and then miss it because you don’t have transport, it’s so harmful,” said Beck. “Such options are extremely important.”
After canceling the bus route, which took her two children to primary school, Jazmin Dillard and other parents from Chicago thought that they’d convinced the school to transfer the opening bell from 8:45 to 8:15, which is simpler for her to master the time of schedule. After this plan, it was scrapped because buses were needed elsewhere at the moment, Dillard turned to Piggyback Network.
“We had to rotate and find a way to work on time, and also take them to school on time,” she said.
(Tagstranslate) @AP
Education
Dilemma, dilemma: The 4-day school week is a problem for parents with 5-day work schedules


The growing variety of American school districts goes to 4 -day school weeks, aimed toward solving teachers’ problems, reducing operational costs and alleviating burnout of scholars. Although this model offers some benefits, it also presents challenges, especially for working parents, whose schedules aren’t in line with the shortened school week.
According to The Associated Press, from 2024 almost 900 school districts throughout the country adopted a 4 -day week, which is a significant increase from just over 100 in 1999. This change is The most widespread in rural areas, Where districts are aimed toward reducing transport costs and attracting teachers by offering a more flexible schedule.
In Floresville, Texas, an independent school district will implement a hybrid 4 -day week from the 2025-2026 academic yr. The decision concerns a survey, which showed that 68% of employees, parents and students supported the change, provided that childcare was available on an extra day. The district plans to supply childcare and meals in most Fridays When the school is not within the session.
The district also reduced students ‘days from 169 to 164 and teachers’ days from 187 to 178. Officials said that this movement goals to extend the balance between skilled and personal life for teachers while maintaining instructional hours by extending other school days.
However, the transition is difficulties for parents working in traditional five -day weeks. Child care management on an extra time without work might be difficult and expensive. While some districts provide subsidies, availability and price accessibility differ.
Despite these fears, many parents appreciate the advantages of a 4 -day week, comparable to increased family time and reduced stress for students. Surveys indicate that 70% to 80% of parents in districts with a 4 -day week support the model, citing higher morale and attendance.
Nevertheless, some districts, comparable to Middletown, Connecticut, decided to keep up a five -day schedule, citing concerns about childcare, Extracting activities and a potential impact on students’ learning. Officials emphasize the importance of stability and challenges that a shortened week might be for families and academic results.
As the controversy continues, the 4 -day school week stays a complex problem, balancing educational advantages with the sensible needs of families and community.
(Tagstranslate) work balance
Education
School or 2ncy is for a special connection with students

“Sometimes I don’t feel that I deserve to work in such a great place”
Ann White, a longtime worker of Saint James School in Montgomery in Alabama, is considered not only because the role of the director of care services, but in addition as warm and care, which he shows every day to each students and lecturers.
White, affectionately known on the campus as “bye Buggy Driver”, leads preschoolers through corridors in prams every morning. The nickname reflects a special connection, which she built with the youngest students, a lot of whom are escaping to welcome it originally of the college day.
“I love children and I love this school. Everyone here is a family,” said White WSFA. “Sometimes I don’t feel that I deserve to work in such a great place.”
White joined Saint James School about eight years ago. Since then, she has change into a well -known and comforting presence throughout the campus. According to WSFA, White and her team Come early every morning To ensure that the college is flawless before students and employees start the day.
“I proudly hear parents and children appear in the morning and say:” It smells so good here! ” – said White.
But her role goes far beyond keeping school clean. He remembers the name of each child, their favorite snacks and small things about their families. Teachers say that its positivity gives the tone of the entire school.
Saint James School, a private institution serving the kindergarten as much as the twelfth grade, emphasizes the character, courage and commitment. According to the college’s mission, these values are crucial for his educational model – the values that White claims that he is attempting to embody each day.
“We really believe what we teach here,” she said.
Because schools all around the country still recognize the essential roles that support staff play, White’s history reminds that the impact doesn’t at all times measure titles or degrees, but relationships inbuilt on a regular basis moments.
Education
What should you know (and do) if your federal student loans are default

Just over a month after significant dismissals within the Federal Student Aid Office within the Education Department, the Trump administration announced that the collections from unleashed federal student loans will resume next month.
Starting from May 5, the Department of Education Restart the involuntary collections of federal student loans through the offset of the Treasury Department after a five -year break, from 2020, initially introduced by the Trump administration. In addition, after a 30-day notification, the Department may also start the default salary for borrowers.
The commercial arrives because over 42.7 million people within the country are owned by federal student loans with a complete value of over $ 1.6 trillion, and the disproportionate amount of them is black. In the United States, for the Black Bachelor’s degree, 83% of them have federal loans, in line with the info Educational data initiative. The research organization also stated that black borrowers – who’ve already been subject to higher rates on average throughout the first 4 years of graduation – belonging to greater than they originally borrowed. They often owe around $ 3800 greater than their white counterparts.
The commercial appears when there have been so many whip across the news about student loans. There is loads of confusion and questions on what happens next, who specifically affects, and what, if in any respect, you can do to avoid wage usefulness.
Before you hurry to panic, take a deep breath. The following translator answers all questions, including whether the Education Department and Federal Student Aid are still a thing.

What does this mean?
Point Blank, if you have federal student loans which have not repaid – identical to you missed too many payments, so your account was sent to the debt collection – these collections will likely be resumed, ranging from May 5; Federal student loans Failure to perform the duty for borrowers who don’t make payments for nine months or longer.
Collections of federal student loans, including default, have been stopped from 2020 to assist in constant relief throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
I believed that Biden administration canceled student loans …
We wish you! Unfortunately, despite several attempts, the Biden administration failed within the acceptance of any type of universal forgiveness of a federal student loan.
How do I know if it affects me?
The temporary break on federal student payments has been lifted since October 2024, if you are undecided in regards to the status of a loan, you can discover by logging in to the student’s student. Govv using your FSA identifier. If you have passed a minute, as for a lot of, you can configure recent login certificates after the essential verification.
Since the collections start again for the primary time in five years, it’s also beneficial to update all contact information in order to not miss key communication, which departments or collections can attempt to initiate.
Will the last FSA and Doe exemptions affect the repayment?
Short answer: Yes. AP News has announced that recent exemptions have definitely made it difficult to reply questions on loans and possible repayment plans. With this in mind, expect to rent patience while reaching out. This may require multiple attempt.
What is step one I should take if my loans are default?
The absolute first step is to transform on the student loan account. Find and update all essential login and update all contact details. Then configure Repayment plan and even set a one -time Rehabilitation plan To get a loan out of non -performance of the duty. Loans are not apparent after granting a certain variety of payments on time.
How to avoid a decorated pay?
Start making payments again and/or set a repayment plan. According to NPRBorrowers who are in failure can expect from the department from the start next week, calling them to make a payment or configure Repayment plan.

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