Union activists have averted the threat of school bus privatization in San Antonio, Texas, and now the district will be spending $2 million for new buses and drivers by the start of the coming school year. The district also will be opening a new transportation facility.
The San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel gets much of the credit for the planned improvements, which include buying 75 new buses and hiring 62 new drivers. Many assistant drivers, now doubling as custodians and other school employees, are working on obtaining their commercial driver's licenses and will move into the driver slots, with new assistant drivers being hired.
Union leaders pushed for these upgrades for several years, working with the school district to win state and city funding. Told there was nowhere to locate satellite parking to alleviate overcrowding at the main lot and mechanic bays servicing about 1,300 vehicles, union members kept asking the district for a solution. Finally, a tract of underused city property was found that will be pressed into service.
When you push the district hard enough, you get results," says Rachel Martinez, executive vice president of the alliance, who tapped into her good working relationship with the district's transportation director. "Now I know to do my research and dig a little deeper."
The new facility will house transportation workers and serve as a depot for many of the buses, including the new ones. Martinez says the district plans to finish hiring new drivers by the end of May.
I am really proud of our board members because they could have easily turned to private contractors," Martinez says. "but they figured out a way to take that money and help the community."