When your metropolis can’t carry out probably the most primary academic capabilities like getting children to high school on time, it’s time for drastic motion.
That is what it’s come right down to in Boston, the place 40% of buses nonetheless aren’t leaving or getting to high school on time – a fully disgraceful document of incompetence.
However to not Mayor Michelle Wu.
In an extended Substack publish, an excessively optimistic and cheerful Wu (she goes by Wutrain) blamed mother and father and bus drivers for the disastrous first week of college.
“Overall, Boston Public Schools (BPS) has had a very successful start to the school year thanks to the hard work of educators and administrators preparing all summer with facilities improvements, food service prep, academic planning and family engagement,” Wu wrote.
After all, if the buses can’t get the children to high school, how would we learn about all these nice issues?
“Our talented and extremely hard working BPS transportation team juggles unthinkable complexity and makes real-time adjustments to serve tens of thousands of families,” she blathered on. “This year we’ve had challenges with the first few days of transportation, so with the first full week of school in the rearview mirror, I wanted to share how busing works, why we worked to introduce new technology this year, and how all this fits into our roadmap for BPS transportation that is safe, reliable and efficient.”
I’ll spare you all the main points however mainly Wu visited her transportation crew on Monday and was assured that issues are going to be higher.
“This year, we’ve had a major dip in on-time yellow bus arrivals in the first week of school as we adjust to some major changes implementing a first-ever real-time bus tracking app for families, and an unprecedented wave of new registrations right as school was starting,” she wrote. “This year we had much more widespread delays; some schools waited for several hours after dismissal time for buses to pick up students for the ride home.”
And right here come the justifications: a brand new app known as Zum that drivers are having hassle getting used to, and an “unexpected surge” in new registrations that triggered final minute adjustments within the bus schedules.
These excuses are unacceptable. It’s onerous sufficient for fogeys to get children to go to high school in Boston, and most mother and father need to work – which means they need to depend on buses being on time. If the buses are late there’s a ripple impact – mother and father are late for work or need to get out of labor to choose up their children.
Nowhere in her lengthy publish did Wu apologize or maintain herself and the college superintendent accountable for the issues.
However she must be accountable. The college system is run by her personal hand-picked superintendent, Mary Skipper, and college division, over which she has complete management.
When the buses had been late below Mayor Tom Menino, he obtained indignant and demanded adjustments. Wu simply smiles and has her head within the sand.
It’s her perspective that permeates the system. Wu’s college spokesman, Max Baker, has taken to writing lengthy, unclever emails to the media quoting Alice Cooper and speaking about switching from rum to martinis to start out the college yr.
“Hi gang, Where did summer go man?” Baker writes. “It seems like just yesterday, I was peeling away from the office, windows down and blaring out “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper. I used to be enthusiastic about all the times I’d be sitting by the seashore, carrying shorts all day, ingesting mai tais…And whereas I’m mourning the lack of my care-free fruity rum drinks (I’m switching again to martinis as a result of they actually take the sting off), I can consider 500 people who find themselves completely stoked to be again in class.”
Possibly an intoxicated staffer was in command of the college bus plan.
However don’t fear, mayor. Simply seize a martini, placed on “Smoking in the Boys’ Room” and want the issues away.
