'Exhausted and frustrated.' School bus drivers say NC needs to raise salaries

RALEIGH -- North Carolina school districts are struggling to find enough bus drivers weeks into the start of the new school year, leading to delays getting students to and from school.

Parents in school districts across the state are complaining about how it’s taking longer than normal for their children to get picked up in the morning and to get home in the afternoon. On Friday, the North Carolina Association of Educators and some Wake County school bus drivers pinned at least part of the blame on state lawmakers not approving a new budget yet that includes higher salaries for bus drivers.

“Instead of passing a budget, state lawmakers sit on a $6.5 billion surplus,” Juneakcia Green, a Wake County school bus driver, said Friday at the news conference. “We have a huge surplus while ... we cannot consistently get students to school on time because we do not have enough school bus drivers.”

The state pays school bus drivers $12.75 an hour, with school districts supplementing the salaries when they can. Some districts have only recently raised starting salaries for drivers to $15 or more an hour. It’s still below $15 an hour in many districts.

Read more: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article254133313.html
(Raleigh News & Observer)