At the moment there is a bill to be passed for the Iowa Department of Education where the state will no longer require bus drivers to complete a bus driving training course. This bill [HF733] will allow the school district to make the decision whether or not the course is required for their drivers. Previously bus drivers for schools in Iowa have had to take and pass in a course for bus driving before or within the first 6 months of working as a driver. This course has to be taken by them again every 24 months to ensure up to date and safe driving for the driver and the children who will ride to school.  

In Iowa alone in this past year there were 104 recorded bus accidents, 29 resulting in injury and 2 that were fatal resulting in deaths. 

By making this not a requirement under the state it puts a risk to the less fortunate children in Iowa. There is a potential that school departments with less funding will not require this course as it is an extra cost, putting the lives of the children that go to school on buses at a much higher risk. 

A school bus is a 10,000 to 25,000 pound vehicle when empty and 14,500 to 36,000 pound vehicle when full of kids, in Iowa at the moment that falls under the requirement to have a CDL license,  making it completely irresponsible to allow a vehicle of this mass to be operated by a person not repeatedly kept to a high standard of driving. 

This all goes without mention of the children riding to and from school daily, 5 days a week. Rowdy children are a huge distraction, to have up to 73 children yelling, and messing around the bus is typical. There is no way for a bus driver to completely control all of their behaviors, as well as be hyper aware of the road without being highly trained. 

Being a bus driver is not an easy job, and it goes overlooked in day to day lives, with parents valuing it as something regular and accepted, that their kid will leave on a bus in the morning and come back home safe. The peace of mind of having transportation to school is something that is taken for granted. Bus drivers deserve interest and effort being put into their jobs, and children and parents deserve the convenience of help getting to school safely.