(Photo : Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 20: School buses and drivers at the Atlantic Express Transportation Crop. in Queens head back to work after the drivers and matrons suspended their January 16th strike on February 20, 2013 in New York City. Bus drivers and matrons, who are represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181, serve more than 150,000 children, many of them with disabilities. After a one month strike and no concessions from the Bloomberg administration, workers decided to wait to bargain with prospective New York City mayoral candidates after this year's election.
Due to an ongoing labor dispute involving the Amalgamated Transit Union 1181 (ATU 1181) in New York City, Schools Chancellor David Banks has warned people who rely on school buses that they may experience disruptions and delays in their commutes.
This warning comes as students across the city prepare to return to in-person learning on Thursday.
Labor Dispute Casts Shadow Over NYC School Bus Commutes
The conflict started the week before last when ATU 1181, representing more than 8,000 school bus drivers, delayed the process of picking their routes for the upcoming year. This delay results from ongoing negotiations between the city and the union on the terms of a new contract, as per NY Post.
Chancellor Banks voiced his concerns by expressing the following: "This may result in some drivers being placed on unfamiliar bus routes, and some companies may not be able to provide families who use curb-to-school bus routes with pickup and drop-off times in advance of the first day of school."
According to the city's long-standing practice, bus drivers use their years of experience to determine which of the city's 4,400 routes they drive. On the other hand, due to the protracted conflict, many families are still waiting for confirmation of their bus routes.
"We want to make parents and families aware that they may, in fact, experience some disruptions and delays on their children's first day of school," Banks said. "We also want to ensure they are prepared for this possibility."
The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) has stated that bus service will be provided on Thursday and Friday. Still, it has yet to rule out the idea of continuing the strike beyond this week. During the course of negotiations with bus companies and local officials, the union maintains its position that a fair contract should be reached.
The United States Department of Education (DOE) introduced a pricey backup plan the week before last to offset the potential impact of a bus driver strike. As part of this plan, well-known ridesharing applications like Uber and Lyft, in addition to MetroCards, will be put to use to guarantee that thousands of kids will still be able to get to school.
Under this proposal, the Department of Education (DOE) will either pre-order rides for children through ridesharing firms or compensate families for their transportation expenditures, up to a maximum of $100 one way. If a strike were to take place, it would be the first incident of its kind to take place in the city since January of 2013, CBS News reported.
This would present substantial issues to the city's educational system and the families that it serves. However, the uncertainty around the bus routes is not the only problem plaguing schools in the city of New York as they prepare to begin the new school year, according to ABC7 via MSN.
Another issue was brought to light by Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday when she focused on the challenge that will be presented by the thousands of new migrant kids who will be attending school in the coming years.
NYC Welcomes Spanish-Speaking Asylum-Seekers
The majority of the 60,000 asylum-seekers presently being housed across the five boroughs have a low competence in English and largely speak Spanish, according to Governor Hochul, who voiced her concerns about the situation and stated that she is concerned about the situation.
The Department of Education has taken preventative measures to prepare for this language barrier by hiring 3,400 instructors with licenses to teach English to speakers of other languages and more than 1,700 Spanish teachers.
These efforts aim to ensure that the newly enrolled students receive the support they require to achieve academically, despite the fact that they may suffer language obstacles.
Students and teachers in New York City schools are hoping for a trouble-free start to the new school year despite the substantial problems they will face due to labor unrest and language barriers when the schools begin the new academic year.
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