Busing Must End, But Not Without Good Replacement

Dear JCPS,

I am writing you to talk about the local controversy about busing in JCPS, and as a former victim of busing I say that it needs to come to an end. Although I see why busing is a touchy topic, and it’s hard to say that I feel this way in the first place I believe that there are many more cons to busing versus pros. In the 6th grade I was bused from my home on downtown market street to Crosby middle school, and I hated it. Every minute of it.

Every morning it took me 45 minutes to an hour to get to school, and I had no other choice, I could go to any school in the neighborhood, after the long, painful bus ride when I was inside the school I still dreaded it. Me and everyone that was bused from downtown did not get along with the kids that came from the neighborhood, often found it were one group was having an issue with another group, mainly because of the much different economic status that took place in the school. Downtown is a mainly poor area, and I grew up that way, and kids around the school were fairly wealthy. Me and other kids I knew from downtown were picked on because we didn’t have name brand clothes, or the new iPhone and that caused fights and arguments, and that sucked, but the issue was never about race, and that’s because busing has stopped that issue.

It’s hard to say that I am against busing because it gets rid of the major racism issue, and I’d say that is the biggest part of why busing needs to stay, but it starts so many issues in school and out that instead of getting rid of busing entirely, you need to replace the system. I am against busing don’t get me wrong, having to ride the bus for an hour is ridiculous, one time I finished an entire video game on the bus riding to and home from school. But getting rid of busing without a good replacement is a huge mistake. So I’d like to discuss a plan that I believe could work for busing in jcps.

Not only would ending busing altogether [create] an issue with segregation, but it would make everyone be forced to go to their neighborhood schools, and now that I’m in high school, I would KILL if I was forced to go to my neighborhood school. So I believe that ending busing, but allowing kids to stay in the school that there already in would be a good alternative. Some kids that are being bused enjoy it, they like where they go to school and don’t want to go to their neighborhood school, I understand that, so I think that if you are a student of busing and busing gets replaced you should be able to decide [if] you stay in the school you are currently in, or move to your closest neighborhood school. I know that that plan is far from flawless, and I can see issues with it now, but I like that base idea of it. I think that this plan can be worked on to make a plan that can ultimately make JCPS a better district and a better community. Thank you for your time for reading this letter.

Sincerely,
LB,
A Doss High School Student