Cedar Valley Elementary School

Here is something that should anger a few people. It most likely won't. Schools in Washington State are faced with big budget cuts due to the declining economy. We are spending insane amounts of money to keep kids in school. To make education a piece of every child's life, and yet getting them there has become less of an issue for our government and more of an issue for the people. Years ago when my children started school, they lived across the street from the school and they were not provided transportation to the school. Hey, no problem there. Recently all of the buses have been removed from Cedar Valley school completely and yet one more expense has come down on the parents.
Every parent has the obligation to make sure their student has the items they need to get their student through the school year. Every year the list of school supplies grows and grows. Now each student is required to bring an excess of school supplies into the school. I see some schools using that system to put items on other children's desk. Hey, That's great. Each child is bringing in boxes of tissues, bottles of Purell hand sanitizer, and other excess supplies. Some families have a hard enough time bringing in , just the basics. Some schools have walking within a mile, while others have gone Completely walking.
That is the case for Cedar Valley in Lynnwood, Washington. Completely walking. So not only does this place hundreds of children on the sidewalks, it also places hundreds of cars on the roadways. 196th is a parking lot, and so is Highway 99. The town was not prepared for an influx of cars near rush hour. Every car in and out of the school standing there idling, adding to our pollution. Adding to the cost of enrolling your student in public school. Preventing parents from working while their children are in school, because they have to drop off and pick up their children.
Then there is the Becka Bill that is a safety system put in place to ensure that children attend enough school to progress. A system that was put in place before the removal of transportation, the Becka bill holds parents legally responsible to make sure their children are in school. Now the children are expected to walk our highways and city streets every morning and afternoon. The parents are expected to work and ensure they make it there. I don't know about all parents feelings, but guessing by the lines of cars at the school, nobody trust their children to walk on their own. With the threat of injury to the children, or the chance the children will be lured by a predator, I do not see walking as an option. Not to mention, if my walking teenager decides not to go to school, I face potential jail time.
Public schools are designed to raise the education level of all Americans and therefore should be a business of Americans. Removing the transportation from the schools is another huge step backwards in history. Sure, we have all heard stories of how our parents walked ten miles to school, uphill, both ways, in a blizzard; Did the system not improve and bring transportation to the table? Another place the Americans are failing.