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               Across the country, school districts are struggling to fill transportation jobs. The shortage helps explain systemic problems in the labor market. by Zachary Crockett.
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                <a style="color: #ffffff; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 100%; text-decoration: none;">
                 The Hustle
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                Issue #177
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                 <img alt="The Hustle, Sunday, September 26, 2021" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fmedia.sailthru.com%252Fcomposer%252Fimages%252Fsailthru-prod-6ks%252Fschool_bus_pixels.gif/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZtZWRpYS5zYWlsdCJ9:1mURep:KKEarvghUmH4ZrF8wLIbTIYsJcz5zFxKZTyXMOu7ZkM" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; display: block;" width="600"/>
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                Sunday, September 26, 2021
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            <h2 style="font-size: 30px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 25px;">
             <strong>
              Why America has a school bus driver shortage
             </strong>
            </h2>
            <p style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 120%; padding-bottom: 10px; font-style: italic; color: #737373; margin: 0;">
             Across the country, school districts are struggling to fill transportation jobs. The shortage helps explain systemic problems in the labor market.
            </p>
            <p style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 120%; padding-bottom: 24px; margin: 0;">
             <strong>
              BY
              <a style="color: #D62829; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;">
               Zachary Crockett
              </a>
             </strong>
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Last week, Jim Mayers, a high school composition teacher in Boston, wanted to take his 11th graders on a field trip.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Per the usual protocol, he tried to book one of the district’s many chartered yellow school buses.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             But this time, a problem arose:
             <strong>
              There were no drivers.
             </strong>
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             To make the trip happen, the school had to hire a private party bus complete with neon lights and stripper poles.
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
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            <img alt="party bus tweet" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fmedia.sailthru.com%252Fcomposer%252Fimages%252Fsailthru-prod-6ks%252Fparty_bus.jpeg/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZtZWRpYS5zYWlsdCJ9:1mURep:KKEarvghUmH4ZrF8wLIbTIYsJcz5zFxKZTyXMOu7ZkM" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; padding-top: 10px;" width="600"/>
            <p align="left" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #5f696c; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; text-align: left; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 5px 20px;">
             Mayers’ tweet (Twitter/@mayersteach)
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             In Mayers’ home state of Massachusetts, the school bus driver shortage has gotten so severe that the governor recently
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               deployed
              </u>
             </a>
             <strong>
              ~250 National Guardsmen
             </strong>
             to drive kids to school. Officials in
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               Ohio
              </u>
             </a>
             and
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               South Carolina
              </u>
             </a>
             are planning to follow suit.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             The shortage is quickly becoming a national crisis:
            </p>
            <ul style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 12px; margin: 0;">
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              In
              <strong>
               Texas
              </strong>
              , teachers and basketball coaches are being
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                asked
               </u>
              </a>
              to drive buses before school
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              In
              <strong>
               Pennsylvania
              </strong>
              , some districts are
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                paying
               </u>
              </a>
              families $300/mo to voluntarily opt out of bus pickups.
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              In
              <strong>
               New York
              </strong>
              , officials have launched a multi-agency recruitment effort targeted at
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                500k+
               </u>
              </a>
              drivers with commercial licenses.
             </li>
            </ul>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             What’s driving this trend?
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             <em>
              The Hustle
             </em>
             talked to nearly a dozen bus drivers, school officials, and trade groups to find out.
            </p>
            <h4 style="font-size: 17px; height: 100%; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 22px; padding-top: 8px; margin: 0px;">
             <strong>
              First, a glance at the school bus market
             </strong>
            </h4>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             During a typical year,
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               <strong>
                55%
               </strong>
              </u>
             </a>
             <strong>
             </strong>
             of all K-12 students — some
             <strong>
              25m
             </strong>
             kids — use school buses to get to class.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             In total, the nation’s 13.8k school districts spend a collective
             <strong>
              $22B/year
             </strong>
             on transportation.
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td align="center" style="text-align: center;">
            <img alt="snapshot of school bus market" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fmedia.sailthru.com%252Fcomposer%252Fimages%252Fsailthru-prod-6ks%252Fbus_market.gif/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZtZWRpYS5zYWlsdCJ9:1mURep:KKEarvghUmH4ZrF8wLIbTIYsJcz5zFxKZTyXMOu7ZkM" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; padding-top: 10px;" width="600"/>
            <p align="left" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #5f696c; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; text-align: left; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 5px 20px;">
             Zachary Crockett / The Hustle
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Around
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               60%
              </u>
             </a>
             of the nation’s
             <strong>
              500k
             </strong>
             school buses are owned and operated directly by districts, which hire their own drivers. The other 40% are owned by private transportation companies that hire their own drivers and contract their services to schools.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             On the private side,
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               3 companies
              </u>
             </a>
             — First Student, National Express, and Student Transportation — dominate the market.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             When times are good, these companies rake in serious dough: In the 2019 fiscal year, First Student
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               reported
              </u>
             </a>
             <strong>
              $1.85B
             </strong>
             in revenue and
             <strong>
              $173m
             </strong>
             in profit — 15x more than Greyhound.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             But right now, the wheels on the bus aren’t going round and round.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             In a recent national
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               survey
              </u>
             </a>
             ,
             <strong>
              ~81% of districts
             </strong>
             reported not being able to find enough school bus drivers to fill their needs.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             <strong>
              More than half
             </strong>
             of surveyed districts
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               categorize
              </u>
             </a>
             this shortage as “severe” or “desperate.”
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td align="center" style="text-align: center;">
            <img alt="school bus shortage survey" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fmedia.sailthru.com%252Fcomposer%252Fimages%252Fsailthru-prod-6ks%252Fbus_survey.jpeg/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZtZWRpYS5zYWlsdCJ9:1mURep:KKEarvghUmH4ZrF8wLIbTIYsJcz5zFxKZTyXMOu7ZkM" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; padding-top: 10px;" width="600"/>
            <p align="left" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #5f696c; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; text-align: left; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 5px 20px;">
             Zachary Crockett / The Hustle
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             School bus driver shortages aren’t a new phenomenon. At the beginning of most school years, districts and private bus companies often find themselves short-staffed by a few positions.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             This year, though, many districts say they have
             <strong>
              30%-50%
             </strong>
             fewer drivers than needed to adequately fill the demand.
            </p>
            <h4 style="font-size: 17px; height: 100%; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 22px; padding-top: 8px; margin: 0px;">
             <strong>
              The obvious driver: pandemic woes
             </strong>
            </h4>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             The current shortage began to mount last year, when 95% of all K-12 schools in the US
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               transitioned
              </u>
             </a>
             to remote learning.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Though school districts were given
             <strong>
              $13.5B
             </strong>
             in federal aid to weather the storm, many
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               didn’t use any of the money
              </u>
             </a>
             to pay transportation contractors.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Bus companies — which rely on the 180-day school year for business — were forced to
             <strong>
              furlough or lay off
             </strong>
             their drivers en masse. These drivers went on to find other transportation jobs, and it’s been extraordinarily difficult to recruit them back.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             This year, as schools have reopened, many of the remaining drivers have also quit voluntarily over
             <strong>
              health concerns
             </strong>
             .
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             At
             <strong>
              56
             </strong>
             , the
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               average
              </u>
             </a>
             school bus driver is 14 years older than the
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               median US worker
              </u>
             </a>
             .
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td align="center" style="text-align: center;">
            <img alt="median bus driver age" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fmedia.sailthru.com%252Fcomposer%252Fimages%252Fsailthru-prod-6ks%252Fbus_driver_age.jpeg/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZtZWRpYS5zYWlsdCJ9:1mURep:KKEarvghUmH4ZrF8wLIbTIYsJcz5zFxKZTyXMOu7ZkM" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; padding-top: 10px;" width="600"/>
            <p align="left" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #5f696c; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; text-align: left; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 5px 20px;">
             Zachary Crockett / The Hustle
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Workers in this age bracket are
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               40x more likely to die
              </u>
             </a>
             from COVID-19 than those in the 18-29 age bracket.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             By nature, the job also comes with a higher risk of infection:
            </p>
            <ul style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 12px; margin: 0;">
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                Kids &lt;12
               </u>
              </a>
              <strong>
               don’t qualify for the vaccine
              </strong>
              , and cases of COVID
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                are on the rise
               </u>
              </a>
              among children.
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              Buses are
              <strong>
               enclosed spaces
              </strong>
              , which experts say pose higher transmission risks.
             </li>
            </ul>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             From
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               Georgia
              </u>
             </a>
             to
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               Florida
              </u>
             </a>
             to
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               Michigan
              </u>
             </a>
             , bus drivers are dying of COVID-19 at an
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               alarming rate
              </u>
             </a>
             as the Delta variant sweeps the nation.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             <strong>
              Sally Morgan
             </strong>
             , a Georgia bus driver in her late 60s, left her job at the start of this school year over safety concerns.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             “I need the money, but it’s just not worth the risk,” she tells
             <em>
              The Hustle
             </em>
             .
            </p>
            <h4 style="font-size: 17px; height: 100%; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 22px; padding-top: 8px; margin: 0px;">
             <strong>
              Poor pay, rough schedule
             </strong>
            </h4>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Like Morgan, many bus drivers have decided that the sacrifices they make aren’t justified by their paychecks.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Bus drivers typically work a
             <strong>
              split schedule
             </strong>
             , meaning they work in 2 shifts: One in the morning, and another in the afternoon. This makes it harder for them to take on side hustles or second jobs to supplement their income.
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td align="center" style="text-align: center;">
            <img alt="school bus driver schedule" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fmedia.sailthru.com%252Fcomposer%252Fimages%252Fsailthru-prod-6ks%252Fdriver_schedule.jpeg/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZtZWRpYS5zYWlsdCJ9:1mURep:KKEarvghUmH4ZrF8wLIbTIYsJcz5zFxKZTyXMOu7ZkM" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; padding-top: 10px;" width="600"/>
            <p align="left" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #5f696c; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; text-align: left; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 5px 20px;">
             Zachary Crockett / The Hustle
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td align="center" style="text-align: center;">
            <img alt="hourly bus driver wages by US state" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fmedia.sailthru.com%252Fcomposer%252Fimages%252Fsailthru-prod-6ks%252Fdriver_pay.jpeg/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZtZWRpYS5zYWlsdCJ9:1mURep:KKEarvghUmH4ZrF8wLIbTIYsJcz5zFxKZTyXMOu7ZkM" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; padding-top: 10px;" width="600"/>
            <p align="left" style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #5f696c; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; text-align: left; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 8px 5px 20px;">
             Zachary Crockett / The Hustle
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             School bus employers have tried to sweeten the pot a little:
            </p>
            <ul style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 12px; margin: 0;">
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              First Student, the largest school bus contractor in the US, has bumped pay to
              <strong>
               $21/hr
              </strong>
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              School districts in
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                Pennsylvania
               </u>
              </a>
              ,
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                Arizona
               </u>
              </a>
              ,
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                Virginia
               </u>
              </a>
              , and many other states are offering drivers signing bonuses of up to
              <strong>
               $3k
              </strong>
              .
             </li>
            </ul>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             But workers with commercial licenses
             <strong>
             </strong>
             are in high demand right now. And districts are competing with tech giants on the recruitment front.
            </p>
            <h4 style="font-size: 17px; height: 100%; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 22px; padding-top: 8px; margin: 0px;">
             <strong>
              Amazon is poaching school bus drivers
             </strong>
            </h4>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             In Palm Beach, Florida, the district is short 75 drivers on its 700-bus fleet.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             A major reason is that the district can’t compete with Amazon, which recently opened a 96k-sq.-ft. warehouse there, and is actively recruiting commercial delivery drivers.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             The district’s bus drivers start at
             <strong>
              $14.57/hour
             </strong>
             ; Amazon
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               offers
              </u>
             </a>
             <strong>
              $16.50+
             </strong>
             .
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             <strong>
              Aaron Dietrich
             </strong>
             , who works with a union that represents many of Florida’s bus drivers, says the shortage there is quickly becoming an “emergency.”
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             “What we are seeing is the result of market pressures, plain and simple,” he told
             <em>
              The Hustle
             </em>
             . “People are opting for better-paying jobs, and our severely underpaid education sector in Florida is not equipped to compete.”
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             <strong>
              Rodney
             </strong>
             , a bus driver in upstate New York who spoke to
             <em>
              The Hustle
             </em>
             anonymously over fears of retribution, says he’s thinking about jumping ship to Amazon.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             The Amazon gig pays ~$22/hour — more than his current $16/hour pay — but it comes with tradeoffs.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             As an Amazon Flex driver, Rodney would have to pay for his own vehicle, gas, insurance, and wear and tear. Accounting for overhead, many contract drivers for the company end up making
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               as little as
              </u>
             </a>
             $5-10/hour.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Still, Rodney says he’d prefer to set his own schedule, work more flexible hours, and have regular year-round pay.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             “A few [bus drivers] I know have left to deliver packages,” he says. “When you work it out, they pull in $15k-$20k more per year. And they don’t have to deal with — pardon my French — all the bullshit of school bus life.”
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             The “bullshit” he’s talking about?
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             “You get kids throwing stuff at you on the bus, you get the fights, the bullying, the name-calling,” he says. “You have to be a chaperone on top of the driving. And we ain’t getting paid for that part of it.”
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             After a long day with 2 shifts, Rodney often has to clean his bus for several hours, scrubbing away spilled juice and scraping gum off the floor.
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Rodney’s dilemma — choosing between a low-paying but stable job and the gig economy — has become increasingly common in the American workforce.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             “The real problem,” he says, “is that the system in this country just isn’t very ideal right now. Any way you cut it, it’s tough out there.”
            </p>
            <h4 style="font-size: 17px; height: 100%; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 22px; padding-top: 8px; margin: 0px;">
             <strong>
              Big picture: Not just a bus driver problem
             </strong>
            </h4>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             The plight of bus drivers comes in the context of a broader national labor shortage.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Corporations across America are experiencing a moment of reckoning, as workers refuse to return to jobs in low-wage industries:
            </p>
            <ul style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 12px; margin: 0;">
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                Restaurants
               </u>
              </a>
              can’t find enough servers, bartenders, and cooks
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                Fast-food chains
               </u>
              </a>
              like McDonald’s are resorting to hiring 15-year-old workers to fill a growing void.
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                Child-care employers
               </u>
              </a>
              are having trouble retaining caregivers.
             </li>
             <li style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 0 0 0 15px; padding: 0px;">
              <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none;">
               <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
                Construction companies
               </u>
              </a>
              are nearly 1m workers short.
             </li>
            </ul>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             The
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               argument
              </u>
             </a>
             has been made that what America is experiencing right now isn’t so much a job shortage as it is a shortage of good wages and worker rights.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             The federal minimum wage, for instance, has been stagnant for over a decade. Adjusted for inflation, it’s been in decline for 50 years.
            </p>
           </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
           <td align="center" style="text-align: center;">
            <img alt="federal minimum wage chart" src="https://inboxflows.com/_/image/https%253A%252F%252Fthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com%252Ffinal_size-minwage_20210925213329.jpg/?inbox_flows_img_sig=eyJwYXRoIjoiaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ0aGRhaWx5LnMzLiJ9:1mURep:sRpNabArA0u1OiNNfpBOCgpTvGi9lZz7cNqZEen5Wks" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto; padding-top: 10px;" width="600"/>
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             Zachary Crockett / The Hustle
            </p>
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          <tr>
           <td class="h2020 ignore-defaults" style="padding: 0px 10px;">
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             This is a point that Jim Mayers — the Boston teacher whose school had to hire a party bus — is trying to drive home.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             He’s since deleted his viral tweet and replaced it with a somber
             <a style="color: #d62829; text-decoration: none; -webkit-text-fill-color: #d62829;">
              <u style="color: #d62829; underline: none; text-decoration: none;">
               note
              </u>
             </a>
             about the “many systemic issues” that necessitated the rental in the first place.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             But until the broader problems that undergird the shortage are addressed, districts around the country will continue to do whatever it takes to get kids to school.
            </p>
            <p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 140%; margin: 5px 0px 10px;">
             Even if that means booking a bus with stripper poles.
            </p>
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