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posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 9:23 am
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In July, Eric Clapton vowed to never, ever play at a venue that required vaccines.
On Saturday, Clapton took the money and played a New Orleans venue that required vaccines.
A vivid reminder that we don’t need to change anti-vaxxers minds, we just need to change the consequences of their selfish choices and then they’ll change their own minds.
– MrJM
Comment by MisterJayEm Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 9:34 am
Oswego school district keeps secondary kids home today because of bus driver shortage. Is this a regular occurence in our Covid-riddled era, or is this something new?
Comment by Randall Dowling Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 9:57 am
Spotify has a Best of Rock: 1980 playlist that is awesome.
The River
Boy
Glass Houses
On No It’s DEVO
Hi Infidelity
Emotional Rescue
Sandinista!
Permanent Waves
Duke
Making Movies
Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 9:58 am
Metallic played at Metro last night. I think it was $20 or $25 to get in. Their fans were much more respectful of the neighborhood than the people who showed up at Wrigley for Dead and Company over the weekend.
Comment by Cheryl44 Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 10:08 am
“or is this something new?” It’s definitely not new, but has been worsened by COVID.
Comment by Skeptic Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 10:27 am
Skeptic,
It’s not new. But I’ve never understood it. In Iowa, the local school district is constantly looking for retired bus drivers to sign on as substitute bus drivers and then using those substitute bus drivers as the main drivers of the buses.
Why is it so hard to get a normal non-substitute busdriver? I would think it would be a decently compensated position with decent benefits that someone without a college degree could hold and that would make it an attractive position.
So why a shortage? Is it just the children are impossible? Parents? Granted COVID has added a dangerous element on top (between the COVID induced insanity and the virus itself) but still.
Comment by cermak_rd Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 10:40 am
District 186 in Springfield is having issues with bus driver shortages. They have been notifying parents of long delays.
At least in 186, the pay scale for bus drivers has always been an issue Couple that with having to enforce masking rules on the buses and the fact you work 2-3 hours in the AM then 2-3 in the PM, and you have issues finding drivers.
186 uses First Student as their bus vendor.
Comment by Give Me A Break Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 10:48 am
===I would think it would be a decently compensated position with decent benefits===
It used to be. But the jobs have mostly been privatized.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 10:54 am
=I would think it would be a decently compensated position with decent benefits that someone without a college degree could hold and that would make it an attractive position.=
Multitude of reasons. It requires a special license (CDL) and candidates can get bounced through a drug and/or criminal background check. For those that make it through the screening process, they have to be willing to work within the irregular hours of the school day which essentially means 2 hours in the morning, a 6 hour gap, and then 2 more hours in the afternoon. And when the school year ends the job for all intents and purposes does as well. So finding candidates that are willing to do this year after year is very challenging. Many that likely did it pre-covid may not have returned to the job post-covid.
And you’ve got to be able to deal with 50 kids on a bus.
Comment by Pundent Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 11:05 am
So it sounds like they don’t offer enough compensation/benefits to make up for the special requirements (CDL, no history of drug use or crime, ability to work with children without resorting to violence).
When I was a child, we had the same bus drivers for years (probably now the retired driver pool from which many districts are drawing). It may be time to reconsider the penny-wise, pound-foolish decision to privatize those positions.
Comment by aovermy@yahoo.com Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 11:16 am
=It may be time to reconsider the penny-wise, pound-foolish decision to privatize those positions.=
Possibly. But the industry problems persist whether its a private operator or the school providing the busses. And many administrators find it far easier to transfer the headache and responsibility to private operators so they can focus on their other labor challenge - finding teachers.
Comment by Pundent Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 11:32 am
“=It may be time to reconsider the penny-wise, pound-foolish decision to privatize those positions.=” And what we pay the teachers too. But it’ll never happen. Why? Because of the people who are already screaming that property taxes are too high.
Comment by Skeptic Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 11:39 am
A lot of this probably has to do with schools wanting to contract out school bus driving so if there is an accident or something bad happens to kids on the bus they are potentially not as much on the hook for a lawsuit.
But in a more reasonable world it would make a lot more sense to me if they had a lot of hybrid school bus driver positions where they drove before and after school but worked as custodians/cafeteria workers during the middle of the day. Maybe these would be four 10-hour shifts a week to get the hours to fit right.
This would make it more worthwhile for people to stick with this type of work and jump through all the hoops of CDL and background check requirements and the schools would get better, more reliable job applicants.
Comment by hisgirlfriday Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 11:59 am
wow Dead and Company and Guns and Roses at the home of the Tricketts. still not going there.
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 12:00 pm
==But in a more reasonable world it would make a lot more sense to me if they had a lot of hybrid school bus driver positions where they drove before and after school but worked as custodians/cafeteria workers during the middle of the day. ==
In the rural school district I attended, there were occasionally a few high school teachers who also drove school buses.
Comment by NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 12:04 pm
There is not enough money in the world that would make me drive those big yellow vehicles that do not fit the road when they turn at intersections and deal with a bunch of kids. Also trying to insure the safety of the kids when every other driver thinks they can drive like Nascar all the time would be too much.
Comment by Rabble Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 12:09 pm
Sox already playing, game switched cause of rain later and yet it is already raining. Keuchel pitching so not expecting much. Prove me wrong. At least we already have a hit.
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 12:23 pm
Thanks for the perspective. In retrospect I should have seen it as such, but it’s really not much different from other covid-related labor shortages.
Comment by Randall Dowling Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 1:59 pm
White Sox vs Cardinals would make for a fun Fall Classic !
Comment by NorthsideNoMore Tuesday, Sep 21, 21 @ 8:40 pm