It's not so much the cost, as that a year ago we were shocked to be passing $2/gallon, now here we are seeing $3+/gallon. Most Americans realize we've had our fuel subsidized for ages now and we still aren't paying our fair share. Here's the thing, most Americans live somewhere that getting from home to work cannot be done except by car. Oh, sure, there may be some form of bus service, but it's unreliable, dirty and expensive. I cannot send my children to school via bus, it's just not possible. We don't have any sort of public transportation on our island. You can't get from our island to anywhere, there are no buses, none at all. We've a group of folks who are trying to out law golf carts here on island, and that is so many kinds of stupid, I can't tell you. The public school will not release children in Kindergarten, 1st or 2nd grade to walk home alone, a parent must come collect them. If you want to pick your child up on time you must go into the car pool line and wait, motor running. If you walk your child will be released 25 minutes after the car pool riders, to insure all the cars are gone before the walkers and bike riders go. For safety, don'tcha know. Something must be done, but I hardly know where to begin. But for now I will spend the $80 a week it costs me to drive my kids to private schools downtown. Sending them to the public school here on island, that we could walk to, is not to be contemplated.
I see, thank you so much for explaining! Then it´s like heating gas here, subsidised for decades by the Soviet Union (main gas producer) to all its "satellite" nations (currently, only Belarus, Russian´s bosom-buddy, enjoys such preferential rates, though they also have had to pay more lately).
Oh yes, you do have a problem there if there´s no public transport at all (especially in case of an emergency) - I had no idea you can´t let children go home alone, though I guess safety is the top priority, especially in traffic-heavy areas :/
80 USD a *week* just to drive your children to school? That´s outrageous... :( what about hiring a small old van and a different parent fetches on a fixed day a week all the children living in your neighbourhood, and you share gas and leasing costs among all of you (and save lots of time)...?
Yes, gas, roads, cars, etc., have all been subsidized for ages now. Perfectly good bus and trolley systems have been taken out of cities to increase car traffic. In huge cities, like San Francisco and New York, you can get around by bus and train just fine, however, most people have to drive to get from their homes to the train stations, the feeder bus service only works during the heaviest commute hours. Nearly all schools, public or private, have complex systems set up for car pool. The bus systems are often an after thought and usually only the 'disadvantaged' kids ride them (and for good reason, the school buses are hideously unsafe). As to my kids and buses...they go to two different schools in two different cities. A bus for my daughter's school (an all girls school) was proposed and then the idea was discarded. My daughter's school is PK-3 to Senior (that is, 3 year old kindergarten to high school graduation, 15 years). The start and finish times varies by age so setting up bus service for the 35 families on the island was deemed 'too complicated'. And the insurance involved for renting a van with different parents driving...outrageous, no sane parent would contemplate the idea. Their were a few families I could have car-pooled with at my son's school, but with my needing to pick my daughter up I had to opt out, her pick up time piggy-back right up to my son's pick up time. So, you see, I was really unhappy when the public school didn't work out for my family. I knew I was putting myself into a situation where I would be running up a huge gas bill each week. I am trading the mini-van in for a smaller car soon, but with that comes another set of troubles. Downtown Charleston floods, regularly. With the van I could always get the kids into the flooded parts of town. With a smaller car, not so much. So it goes. I will likely move downtown in a few years.
Oh dear... it´s amazing how different national perceptions of what´s convenient (or not!) can vary so much! Here public transport (and school buses) are considered extremely safe, and most parents send off their kids to school either with the school bus, or train or else the provincial bus. Maybe it´s because in the (long) winter private cars have no guarantee they´ll arrive in time for school, but school buses are perfectly equipped to deal with snowed roads, black ice, etc., so they arrive in time no matter what.
Now I understand why you can get a driving license already at 16, instead of 18... it seems really, really necessary for young people to be mobile and self-reliant for transport as soon as possible o.O
(It´s so cool you have a school that allows a kid to remain there throughout, age 3 to 18! Same routine, people, friends, and not having to be the ickle nOOb who´s got to adapt again to a new environment every few years must be a great advantage... Here, that´s not possible; schools start to branch off into either professional or vocational rather early on.)
In the US buses are for the poor (well, that depends on what city you live in, clearly in SF or DC or NYC that's not the case, everyone uses public transit). Public transit also tends to be used more in cities with weather issues (or, you get cities like Detroit or Minneapolis, where you can use 'habit trails' to cross the city). Some cities, like Phoenix or here in Charleston, where the topography is flat and the weather is very, very hot, you get an increase in bus traffic in the summer and thankfully all buses have bike racks on the front. However, bus driver often will not stop for bike riders because they don't want to deal with the time spent getting the bikes on and off (and don't get me started on bus drivers leaving wheelchair bound people behind, I become a seething mass of rage on that one). Buses here are not set up for much of anything, I would never allow my kids to ride a school bus in the north if there were ice and snow. Wouldn't happen. And yes, I will be pushing for my daughter to have a driver's license as soon as she can safely handle one. She and her brother, though not going to the same schools, will be within a few blocks of one another. But that is so many years in the future, who knows what will happen between now and then. We are delighted to have Zoe at a school where she can stay until college. It is uniquely set up to bring out the best in girls and I can already see how it's allowed Zoe to develop more fully than she would in a mixed-gender school, even a good private one.
Something must be done, but I hardly know where to begin. But for now I will spend the $80 a week it costs me to drive my kids to private schools downtown. Sending them to the public school here on island, that we could walk to, is not to be contemplated.
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Oh yes, you do have a problem there if there´s no public transport at all (especially in case of an emergency) - I had no idea you can´t let children go home alone, though I guess safety is the top priority, especially in traffic-heavy areas :/
80 USD a *week* just to drive your children to school? That´s outrageous... :( what about hiring a small old van and a different parent fetches on a fixed day a week all the children living in your neighbourhood, and you share gas and leasing costs among all of you (and save lots of time)...?
Reply
Nearly all schools, public or private, have complex systems set up for car pool. The bus systems are often an after thought and usually only the 'disadvantaged' kids ride them (and for good reason, the school buses are hideously unsafe).
As to my kids and buses...they go to two different schools in two different cities. A bus for my daughter's school (an all girls school) was proposed and then the idea was discarded. My daughter's school is PK-3 to Senior (that is, 3 year old kindergarten to high school graduation, 15 years). The start and finish times varies by age so setting up bus service for the 35 families on the island was deemed 'too complicated'. And the insurance involved for renting a van with different parents driving...outrageous, no sane parent would contemplate the idea.
Their were a few families I could have car-pooled with at my son's school, but with my needing to pick my daughter up I had to opt out, her pick up time piggy-back right up to my son's pick up time.
So, you see, I was really unhappy when the public school didn't work out for my family. I knew I was putting myself into a situation where I would be running up a huge gas bill each week. I am trading the mini-van in for a smaller car soon, but with that comes another set of troubles. Downtown Charleston floods, regularly. With the van I could always get the kids into the flooded parts of town. With a smaller car, not so much.
So it goes.
I will likely move downtown in a few years.
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Now I understand why you can get a driving license already at 16, instead of 18... it seems really, really necessary for young people to be mobile and self-reliant for transport as soon as possible o.O
(It´s so cool you have a school that allows a kid to remain there throughout, age 3 to 18! Same routine, people, friends, and not having to be the ickle nOOb who´s got to adapt again to a new environment every few years must be a great advantage... Here, that´s not possible; schools start to branch off into either professional or vocational rather early on.)
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Buses here are not set up for much of anything, I would never allow my kids to ride a school bus in the north if there were ice and snow. Wouldn't happen.
And yes, I will be pushing for my daughter to have a driver's license as soon as she can safely handle one. She and her brother, though not going to the same schools, will be within a few blocks of one another. But that is so many years in the future, who knows what will happen between now and then.
We are delighted to have Zoe at a school where she can stay until college. It is uniquely set up to bring out the best in girls and I can already see how it's allowed Zoe to develop more fully than she would in a mixed-gender school, even a good private one.
Reply
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