off to a quick start with aggressive deportation programs ostensibly focused on immigrants who are here illegally and have committed crimes while in our nation. Here again, NAPT does not have a role to play in shaping immigration policy, but we do have a role in informing our members about these policies to the extent that they affect our students and school bus safety. To that end, we have shared thoughts about how districts and operators should approach situations where state or federal immigration agents approach a student or parent at a bus stop or even on the school bus. We have shared that it is important for operators to inform drivers about such eventualities and to offer them official guidance or policy on how they should handle them. Our concern is that unlike in-school staff who have other support mechanisms available, school bus drivers are often alone on a rural road or a busy inner city street. We cannot leave them unprepared.
As the new team advances their policy and funding proposals, there are also calls for making direct grants to states and for empowering parents to make choices and decisions about where their children attend school and what they learn. To wit, on March 31st, the department issued a letter to chief state school officers providing them guidance on using current Title I funds to support parental choices in elementary and secondary education settings. The letter also encourages state efforts to explore these options under current law. Like the other topics referenced here, our position on such issues needs to be directed at the impact such changes will have on our ability to provide transportation safely and efficiently. As more parents take the option of sending their children to non-public schools or to other public schools within a district, the job of transporting those children becomes more complex and potentially more costly. We will need to explore routing options as well as equipment options as there might be smaller groups of students going to some of these schools. This could also affect the number of drivers we need and their licensing and training requirements.
There are clearly other issues and topics that we will face and our philosophy in addressing them or advocating about them will always be whether and how a policy or action affects the capacity of our members to carry out their responsibilities to the children they transport. We will at times engage in advocacy for broader funding sources and issues that derive from our close affiliation to those schools. In all these issues, we are proud to continue our advocacy
relationship with the American Association of School Administrators( AASA-The Superintendents Association).
Quick Update on Cabinet Appointments Earlier in the year, President Trump announced several appointments of Cabinet Secretaries and next level officials in the Transportation Department and the Education Department. The Senate has confirmed the two Secretaries, and we await confirmation of other key officials in both. Below is a list of those individuals who have been officially nominated and / or confirmed. Note: we will do a deeper review of each in the next issue of School BUS Ride!
Department of Transportation:
• Secretary: Sean Duffy( confirmed)
• FMCSA Administrator: Derek Barrs
• NHTSA Administrator: Jonathan Morrison
Department of Education
• Secretary: Linda McMahon( confirmed)
• Deputy Secretary: Penny Schwinn( of Tennessee)
• Asst. Secretary for Elementary & Secondary: Kirsten Baesler( of
South Dakota)
• Asst. Secretary for Special Education Services:( awaiting a nomination)
Posturing and Positioning To use a traffic safety concept, when it comes to political and advocacy engagement, NAPT and our industry need to know our lane and stay in it. Our voice is not prominent in the debate over whether to close the Education Department or whether to transfer IDEA funding to a different agency. However, it is important to our members that we know what will happen with IDEA and Title I funds that support our efforts for the children we transport. And as the new administration makes its mark on regulatory matters like driver training or seat belts for school buses or clean school buses, it will be important for our members that we remain engaged, vigilant and constructive. We are pleased to be aligned with and partnered with AASA as well as ASBO-International among other organizations. And we are working hard to establish our own presence in the Capital with the federal agencies that impact the work of our members every day. We encourage our members to stay current on issues of the day and we are eager to work with our state associations to provide support for their advocacy efforts.
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