When bureaucracies see their grip on power start to slip, they and their supporters pull out a number of tactics. It happened this week at one of the new blogs, Champaign Common Sense. The normally reasonable author there decided to go off on Scott Tapley and claim that some people in the new proposed southwest Champaign mass transit district would lose bus service to school for their children. This was first of all either a misunderstanding on the author's part, a misrepresentation, or a lie. Second, it was a great local example of what we see nationally. "Social security is going broke, but it will be even worse if we do the Bush plan." Yes, the MTD is out of control, an undemocratic bloated bureaucracy. But it will be even worse if we create this new district.
In the interest of the truth, here are the facts.
Champaign Unit 4 is a community unit school district. As such it has an obligation to provide bus service to all children who live more than 1.5 miles from a school. There seemed to be some misunderstanding regarding this requirement so I called the State Board of Education where someone in the school transportation funding area explained this to me. Ironically, the Urbana school district is not a unit district and so they are not under any obligation to provide transportation.
Every household in the proposed mass transit district is at least 1.5 miles away from the nearest school according to mapquest. I figured this by using 4001 W Kirby and 4000 W Windsor as the two points closest to town in the new district. Only 4001 W Kirby (Bible Baptist Church) was within 1.5 miles. As it was 1.46 miles, and a mere 70 more yards would make it 1.5 miles from Kenwood school, it is apparent that every household in the new district is part of the school district's mandated bus service area.
Unfortunately, the truth is often a casualty when bureaucracies have their empires challenged.
Don't believe the rumors about lost bus service for your kids. Unit 4 will have to provide it, regardless of what happens with the new mass transit district.
I don't think it's a loss of service he's talking about...When you say Unit 4 Must provide service there is a way they can comply that will still aggravate parents:
If your child lives outside 1.5 miles, you get your child to school and back, and you get reimbursed.
You submit a voucher for miles to the school, which passes it on to the State. There is no requirement that the schools send buses. Those cute little yellow buses do not run regular routes.
And there is no requirement that the MTD contract with the Champaign School Board. The Champaign School Board could be squeezed.
And if the Champaign School Board has to buy buses to compensate for the loss of the MTD contract at great expense, Mr. Tapley will be finished in the broader community.
Thus Tapley's move may cause a greater cost overall to taxpayers via the school district's requirements should the CUMTD choose to pull the plug due to this act.
I've been told that the State, must pay, that is, you send a voucher request to the State, if your child lives more than 1.5 miles from the school. If your child lives within 1.5 miles, you are on your own. If beyond 1.5 miles, you can ride the bus and get reimbursed, drive and get reimbursed, rent a helicopter if you want, but you get paid for the miles, not the method.
The School District is not required to provide any transportation.
As I said, I talked to the ISBE. Unit 4 must provide transportation. The reimbursement option is only for non Unit districts like Urbana. Please call the SBE at 866-262-6663 to get the answer yourself. The reimbursable transportation cost is only for students in non -Unit districts.
Hey anon, why would I want my child to drive on an MTD bus with potential riff raff and pedophiles?
The MTD School buses only pick up school children. They are not in use for general service when transporting to and from the school.
Ok if Unit 4 MUST provide transportation as you said and CUMTD pulls the plug..the school district will have to buy more school busses at greater cost.
"So, all the schoolchildren in Tapley's MTD can walk to school, or the parents can drive them, or Tapley's MTD can provide daily services to the neighborhood. Five days a week, morning and afternoon."
The above piece of hyperbole came from ChampaignCommonSense. Reasonable people can disagree with the costs involved here for the greater community. Perhaps it will cost more money for the school district. My point is that the school district is required to provide the transportation and notions that parents are going to have to file for reimbursements is not accurate.
Ok conceded, but I assert Tapley's move is giving the shaft to the school district, thereby transferring the problem from his rich SW Champaign area to Unit 4 which is already financially strapped. Makes him look quite self absorbed with himself and not interested in the well being of the school district. He probably home schools his kids.
So then Unit 4 will either have to raise taxes, issue bonds or do something which results in the tax coming right back to the tax payer in order to transport the kids to school. So fighting off the CUMTD really won't save that much in taxes in the long run..What's the worst thing that could happen? You could take the bus to downtown from SW Champaign.
Now we are back to what could happen with hypothetical costs. There is no reason to assume that the MTD will no longer agree to this contract. Other than acting out in a snit, why would they? Apparently, this contract is a reasonable one for them economically, otherwise, why would they sign it. If it is reasonable, and good for the taxpayers, why would the MTD board want to discontinue the contract? I think the MTD board cares about the taxpayers in Unit 4 more than some of the posters here on the website.
The logic of this debate is that Tapley doesn't care about taxpayers (quite absurd) and because he doesn't care the MTD board will change their position and join the ranks of people who dont' care about taxpayers.
Unless a number of board members publicly say they will discontinue this contract, I am going to assume that it will continue, regardless of the rumor mongering of various community members.
1. There are numerous private bus companies that operate - Champaign schools would not necessarily have to buy new buses to cover this area.
2. I am also pretty sure that Champaign schools run some yellow school buses now - it would not be some awful new thing if they couldn't use MTD buses in certain areas.
3. If MTD decides not to provide contract services to the school district as retaliation to a new mass transit district, it will be Volk and company that will take it on the chin in PR, not Tapley. "Fine - we'll just take our ball and go home"
What I believe I said, and if not, what I MEANT to say, was the the MTD can contract with anyone to provide transportation services. The contract can be to terms the MTD wants, and if the other party doesn't want to meet those terms, no contract.
Unit 4's obligation is being fufilled by a contract with the MTD. As a power tool, the MTD could say, "We won't provide buses to areas outside our district."
Then Unit 4 is on the hook. People will not be happy with Unit 4 or the MTD.
or Tapley.
There are several reasons why the MTD would stop providing school bus service. In fact, they have threatened just such a thing several times before. The liabilities involved with transporting students are immense and there are several incidents each year of assault, sexual and otherwise, that take place on the buses. It's not the pedophiles, it's the other students.
It is also expensive for the MTD and, from what I have heard, they don't make much penny off of it. They really do it as a service more than anything, and they have every right to take away that service on whim. Lord help 116 and Unit 4 if they do.
This MTD thing has rubbed me the wrong way from the get-go. Why the big stink? The folks in those subdivisions can definitely afford the tax, and the idea of supporting public transportation is legitimate. I am not sure where these ideas about a "huge bureaucracy" losing it's "empire" come from. This is the freakin' bus. These people drive around, pick folks up, drop them off, etc. Where's the empire?
I've used the bus system thousands of times and each time I am grateful. The university would very nearly fall apart without the MTD. And the fact that these new subdivisions rarely even have sidewalks is a testament to the necessity of buses in those districts.
Look, I don't like the fact that Champaign pays developers to develop it's land. Take a look at the history of these subdivisions and you will find millions of dollars in city tax incentives, infrastructure upgrades, etc. with little if any impact fees levied on the developers. The city has made those communities what they are with the tax dollars of the rest of us.
Now they want the subdivisions to pony up their fare share to keep the MTD vibrant, relevant, and growing. If these people don't like it then they can move to another town where they won't be asked to share in the tax burdens of their neighbors.
In the meantime, I kind of think this is a non-issue.
"And the fact that these new subdivisions rarely even have sidewalks is a testament to the necessity of buses in those districts."
Are you sure about this? I haven't noticed that.
Quick comment today... remember that Unit 4 is a "schools of choice district", so that the 1.5 mile to the nearest school may not apply. There are plenty of kids who live near one school, say Garden Hills, and goes to another, like Dr. Howard. It's a logisitical nightmare, and it sounds like it's only going to get worse. Unit 4 schools are looking at changing there starting times this year (again) because of all the bussing going on.
Foleyma, the empire is Volk's. As the head of a gov't organization that is not bothered with that little thing called profit, his measure of success is how big he can make his district, how much money he can spend annually, how many riders he can carry, and how many employees he can hire. How could his pay go up if the CUMTD had a skeleton service, focused on the elderly and the poor, and excluded the U of I students? How much respect would he get from his peers at the annual mass transit conference?
Maybe the guy doesn't think this way, maybe he really does just care about citizens of this community - if so he needs to take some public relations classes.
RSW - you could be right. Volk seemed quite the jerk during the Tram negotiations, I have no reason to think he's changed his stripes. However, I still resent these folks in the subdivisions deciding they don't want to take part in the city's mass transit. Try that one in Chicago. We are all in this together, right? If they don't want to chip in for my bus ride to campus, maybe I don't want to chip in for their sewage treatment. This tit-for-tat is no way to live.
Thanks for reminding of Volk though. As usual the truth is somewhere in between.
For those who don't realize it, the MTD school routes are considered normal routes (they have to be to get fed aid). ANYONE can get one the bus. It isn't just for school kids. Ask MTD. Any pervert can get on. The bus drivers are NOT "in loco parentis", like a yellow bus.
And it's the MTD that needs the school contract, not the other way around. Remember last spring when Unit 4 was going to drop some service and transport themselves? Magically the MTD contract went down. Some Unit 4 board members now know they were a bit hoodwinked into approving the MTD contracts and want to fix the problem.
Volk is the empire builder. Anyone who spends over $41,000 in travel in ONE year (for him personally) should be scrutinized more than he is. I saw it in the MTD financial report printed in the NG. We need MORE public officials to ask hard questions in their governmental bodies!!!!!
The CUMTD is already reaching beyond its borders to provide service to Unit 4...why would that change if the CSWMTD is created?
“And the fact that these new subdivisions rarely even have sidewalks is a testament to the necessity of buses in those districts.”ÂÂ
All of the subdivisions in the "participating area" do have sidewalks, but I'm not sure how mass transit and sidewalks in SW Champaign are related.