Grants Variance Power To City DOE
Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder announced that legislation he sponsored to exempt New York City from the “Like Circumstances” clause of the New York State Education law has passed both the Assembly and Senate.
This legislation (A.8683) would allow the city Department of Education (DOE) to restore busing service for seventh and eighth grade general education students.
“In Southern Queens and Rockaway, transportation options are severely limited and our kids should not have to suffer the consequence,” said Goldfeder. “Yellow bus service is not a luxury but rather a necessity for the children in our community. This legislation removes all barriers and gives the Department of Education the tools they need to provide this essential service.”
The DOE typically only provides school bus service to students through sixth grade; however, they have had the power to grant variances to seventh and eighth grade students. Over the past 18 years, variances have been granted to 70 schools where the options with respect to public transportation are limited, including seventh and eighth graders.
In September of 2009, the DOE revoked a variance that allowed sev- enth and eighth graders to be eligible for yellow school bus service. This decision affected 4,600 general education students at public and non-public schools city-wide.
“I applaud Assemblymember Goldfeder for his support of this legislation, which is a critical step towards restoring yellow school bus service for seventh and eighth graders in Broad Channel and the Rockaways,” said City Council member Eric Ulrich. “I am again calling upon the New York City Department of Education to restore this important service which will help keep our students safe on their way to and from school, especially in areas which are far from and underserved by public transportation.”
“Cost saving measures cannot take priority over the safety and well being of our children,” Goldfeder said. “I urge Chancellor [Dennis] Walcott and Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg to restore school bus service to ensure that our children are kept safe as they travel to and from school.”
