Bus drivers lead protest to safely reopen schools
School bus drivers led a noisy caravan of protest through downtown Los Angeles on Thursday (August 13) -- making their voices heard through the sound of their horns.
They're demanding more funding from the federal and state government to help reopen their schools safely -- amid a nationwide debate about resuming in-person schooling during the global health crisis.
Drivers from the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second largest, were joined by other vehicles as they circled around City Hall in protest.
John Lewis has been a driver for the district for three decades now.
"I miss work. I love my job, I love the students, the people I work with but I understand why we can't be at work right now because it's just not safe right now. Until they get conditions safe, I prefer us to be at home. I prefer everyone to stay home and stay safe, you know? I don't want nobody else to lose a life because of this pandemic."
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles teachers union and local education officials agreed on a plan for resuming online-only classes at the end of August.
And California's powerful teachers unions strongly oppose in-person instruction without safety measures that could be difficult and expensive to put in place.
LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner explains:
"The investment we have to make in cleaning a school, the investment we have to make in keeping people safe by spreading desks apart, providing extra equipment, providing devices, Internet access, all that costs more money. Unless we have a health crisis turn into an education crisis, we need to make sure the funding is there for schools."
Most experts agree that safety measures for in-person learning, as well as remote learning, will require additional funding from the state and federal government.
