The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1948-12-03
MEA On Citizens Education Committee
Continued from page Three,


own children to school one way OF
another Today we have some g..
0SS pupils being transported tc
school or receiving aid in lieu OF
transportation = board and room
correspondence courses, etc. 1857
of these pupils are getting them
selves to school, and come under re-
endorsement schedule for individual
cases. 1851 are carried in 564
busses, and districts are repaid on
the same individual basis or schedule.
This schedule pays all those living
more than miles from school, ac-
cording to the distance from school,
at SO much per day per pupil.
The Citizens Committee bill pro-
poses to raise the present individual
schedule by 10 or 2086; also to add
a bus schedule This bus schedule
will guarantee districts 25c per bus
mile travelled for BUSES with pas
senger capacity of 80 or less. Buses
with passenger capacity of over
80, will receive an additional u c per
passenger above 80.
Present law says that all pupils
living miles or more from school
will receive transportation aid. The
Citizens Committee bill changes this
to ~ miles, and may change this |
again to 2 miles. Present law gives |
children living II miles to miles
from an established bus route one
half the schedule in repayment aid,
and children living more than three
miles from an established bus route
will get full repayment according to
the schedule. The Citizens Commit
tee bill cuts these figures to liz
miles for full aid for those living off +
the established bus route. Nothing
is said in the bill concerning the +
number of miles that any child Il
should be transported. That is not +
a new problem, as we have bus routes +
IN Montana today that are over so .
niles long. Possibly the bill should J
Indicate that no child Under a GER 7
ain age should have to ride bus :
'ver certain length of time. +
The Citizens Committee bill also t
las a provision, similar to the one in S
he reorganization bill, that no b
chool can be closed unless the resi-
ents of the area which the school u
erves, vote it closed This is in line =
With MEA policy of many years, !,
7hen we have and will continue to =
dvocate the reorganization of DIS =
RIOTS, but leave the consolidation =
f SCHOOLS to the people. l.
The MEA has advocated another st
ection to the bill, which would allow n,
istricts purchasing buses, to allow W
OF depreciation in their budgets tt
yer period of years. National La
cures formerly indicated that the G.
fe of school bus was 10 years, es
ut now the figure is closer to z 10
= 8 years. The suggestion has also
cen made that all districts purchase
leir busses through the State Pur-
lasing Agent, thereby affecting a
wing to the districts on the pur- OF
lase of buses in larger lots. u,
This transportation bill is a good e.
II, and only needs the ironing out ~
minor details.
District Reorganization di.
The proposed reorganization bill SC
similar to other reorganization or
easures that have been enacted in tri
rious states. There are two types a
this kind of bill, the mandatory it
d the permissive. House bill 124,
AT Montana Legislative Session, tn,
IS an example of the former. This trs
items Committee bill is of the cal
rmissive type, where districts vote by
lether they want to come into the SCI
ger district. This permissive type
legislation has been successful adj
other states, and there is no rea- adj
4 why it shouldn't be so in Montana has
e people of Montana have volun- mo
lily eliminated over 1000 districts stu
the last 25 years. The only diff pee
Lty with that is that there has been it
definite plan behind such consoli- VIII
ton, and sometimes has tended Iie7
magnify the difficulties instead lay
solving them The Citizens Com dis
5tee bill will give Montana planned eff
sch
The general plan of the bill is OPP