By Peter Mannella Several years ago, at an annual conference I was planning in New York, I invited a guest speaker who specialized in child and family social trends and conditions. My intention was for her to share information with the pupil transportation professionals in the room about the children who get our attention […]
When you look in the professional mirror each morning, what do you see looking back at you? Do you see a transportation professional? Or do you see an education professional responsible for the safe and efficient transportation of America’s school children? Like our school colleagues in psychology and nursing and facilities and library science, we […]
When I worked as a professional lobbyist, I trained our clients in grassroots advocacy strategies. The credo of our firm focused on enabling average New Yorkers to speak out for themselves as the strongest form of advocacy. We believed that every citizen should learn about and develop their capacity for speaking out about – and […]
Essential workers. The news media and politicians talk about them all the time, speaking in almost reverent terms about vitally essential workers: EMTs, fire fighters, nurses, nurse aides, teachers, and restaurant workers. And yet, there is rarely a mention of school bus drivers when ‘essential workers’ are invoked. In 1970, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell wrote the […]
As a new president transitions to the Oval Office, many pieces must be put in place by the new administration in a coordinated fashion. One of the critical steps that must be handled effectively and efficiently is the appointment of key staff members, including Cabinet Secretaries and other agency leadership. While school transportation is not […]
As professionals, we sometimes need to take things into our own hands and work together to make things happen. Often that’s how things actually get done in our world. Many of our state associations are engaged in advocacy for school bus legislation and funding. One of the states that has been active in advocating for […]