The NYC school bus strike, how are you coping?

Barbara

Tue, Feb 12 2013, 5:10 pm

amother wrote:

Barbara wrote:

amother wrote:

Barbara wrote:

amother wrote:

bedofroses wrote:

If u haven't been to Brooklyn (14&46 in bp) bet. the hours if 8-11 a.m. And 3-6 p.m. in the last three weeks you just wont understand and you really are not capable of responding to this thread.
Did I get it right?
And correct me if I'm wrong but this thread was started for the ones that are finding it difficult and want chizuk from one another. No bashing was necessary.

ETA: why don't the rest of you start your own spinoff where you can discuss all you want about the entitlements of the brooklyn community.

thank you for bringing this up. there are a lot of schools in this area ,specifically bybp. there are close to 2,000 students(yes, you read that right) at this school. No way you cut it, that is a recipe for major traffic. And the whole school basically gets dismissed at the same time. so you have preschool through 8th grade exiting at the same time. Plus, there are still private buses from the boys schools that are double parked (every day) on 14th avenue. It's like maneuvering a maze. 46th street gets closed down altogether (not sure why- maybe for the few private buses they have? maybe for the safety of the building?). It's a logistical nightmare.

amother again. Sorry I misused the amother feature. I don't know why I do this. Cowardly, I know.

is the amother that is quoting all the amothers clarissa? I did not quote myself. I'm amother because the whole world doesn't have to know where I send my child. this is a public thread.

Just ignore her just as I do. Her agenda is to get the amother feature abolished. Most are aware of this and can assume who is actually apologizing for being a cowardly amother each time she does it.

I only get involved in these threads when I see posters getting bashed for nothing like the posters discussing the strike and how it affects their lives getting pro-union sentiment shoved at them.

It is my firm belief that transportation for special ed students should be deemed an essential service. I wish someone would sue the Union under ADA. I have a severely handicapped family member. Any change in routine is can be disruptive and causes a setback.

I have a proposal. You, amother, and Clarissa agree to allow Yael to expose who all the amothers are.

I'm betting none of them are Clarissa.

Who really cares who it is. I never identified Clarissa. I called the amother 'she' for that particular reason. It could be a committee of trolls for all I care.

The point is there is an agenda which certain posters feel entitled to set on a site they don't own. The posters on this thread have repeatedly and politely asked to be allowed to discuss their hardships and get chizuk from one another. They have made numerous requests to have another thread started because of the hijacking which you call drift.

Maybe someone can discuss what can be done to support the mother's of special ed children and those who are stressed from losing a service they counted on.

You were asked about Clarissa. You responded "she."

But I stand by my suggestion. Ask Yael to reveal the amothers. Clarissa, you in?

As to supporting parents of special needs kids, I think that's the wrong question. The right question is how do we help and support the kids. Since about 1/3 of the school routes are running, I think that the City should have devoted all of those buses to special needs kids. I don't know why they didn't. What's your suggestion?

The only one who can set policy here is Yael so you she be asking if Yael is in.

I was not asked about Clarissa. Remember the reading comprehension thing you mentioned?

IDK why the resources are allocated the way they are. Maybe the contracts are written a certain way. Maybe logistically the bus routes can't be changed. Maybe it is the matrons who are striking which is the limiting factor. Perhaps you need different supervision and different equipment for special needs children.

My suggestion is to sue in Federal Court.

I'll ask her if you and Clarissa both agree. Given that she promises that amother is anonymous, I doubt she would ever agree unless the poster did. So, do you agree?

Oh, and the strike has been ruled legal. Do you even live in New York?

Clarissa

Tue, Feb 12 2013, 5:29 pm

Barbara, arguing with anyone who can't post under her Imamother name is like standing and screaming into a room while a mouse runs around. It's annoying and frustrating and you get nowhere. It's not fair to anyone that people can post as amother for non-intimate issues. I engage with them all the time even though I blocked amother at one point so I wouldn't engage with them. I regret doing so here, of course. The lame excuses (anonymous because I live in Brooklyn, anonymous because I described my child, etc.) are so weak. It's just a way to argue in a mask. It's annoying and terrible for the site. I think they should be mocked until the cows come home. That said, I'll be happy to have amother posts exposed if it's done across the board. Literally. If every amother post is unmasked (except for anything that discusses intimacy or mental illness or stuff like that) I'm happy to have any that I've done exposed. Meaning, if EVERYONE agrees to it and Yael wants to do it. Otherwise, no. Let everyone do it and let it be fair. It'll be a riot.

Oh, and the truth about one of my amother things? I'm the pudding poster over on the "what do you get from Imamother" post. The one who bragged about my homemade pudding. I do make my own pudding and it's fantastic.

amother

Tue, Feb 12 2013, 5:29 pm

Barbara wrote:

amother wrote:

Barbara wrote:

amother wrote:

Barbara wrote:

amother wrote:

bedofroses wrote:

amother again. Sorry I misused the amother feature. I don't know why I do this. Cowardly, I know.

is the amother that is quoting all the amothers clarissa? I did not quote myself. I'm amother because the whole world doesn't have to know where I send my child. this is a public thread.

I have a proposal. You, amother, and Clarissa agree to allow Yael to expose who all the amothers are.

I'm betting none of them are Clarissa.

My suggestion was sue under ADA fbo the special needs children. An activist Judge is needed here to undue all the harm being done to these children who are being hindered from receiving their services. The resolution should include big monetary fines against the striking union. It is hateful that the children are pawns. We should be doing everything in our power to protect the most helpless in our society.

Clarissa

Tue, Feb 12 2013, 5:33 pm

amother wrote:

bedofroses wrote:

amother again. Sorry I misused the amother feature. I don't know why I do this. Cowardly, I know.

is the amother that is quoting all the amothers clarissa? I did not quote myself. I'm amother because the whole world doesn't have to know where I send my child. this is a public thread.

Just ignore her just as I do. Her agenda is to get the amother feature abolished. Most are aware of this and can assume who is actually apologizing for being a cowardly amother each time she does it.

My agenda, AMOTHER? To make everyone stand up for what they believe in or shut up about it. To take away the power of people to fight in a mask. To take away the power of people to repeatedly post as amother while making it look like different people. Boo hoo, you want to fight as a fake character. I really feel bad that someone might be trying to squelch your effort to manipulate the discussion while in a disguise.

Clarissa

Tue, Feb 12 2013, 5:42 pm

amother wrote:

Barbara wrote:

amother wrote:

Barbara wrote:

octopus wrote:

Clarissa wrote:

That staggered dismissal idea is brilliant. Our school pickup is pretty crazy (with or without the strike, which has affected some but not all students) and staggering the dismissal times would help.

it probably wouldn't work anyway- ppl have kids in multiple grades and that would definitely affect my current carpool and it probably would affect others car pool as well. there is no perfect solution.

Before and after school programs would help, I think.

Extra recess or gym time, or study help, that would allow parents to stagger drop off and pick up themselves. And so parents who work could drop off before work, or pick up after.

Setting up electronic (or other) bulletin boards for carpools and rides, and setting up walking groups if kids live in the neighborhood. We didn't have school buses when I was a kid, and a large percentage of older kids made money by walking home the younger kids.

Who is going to fund these extra recess or gym times or study help? Extra gym time presumes there is regular gym time which doesn't exist in many schools.

It's a problem.

But those who think that the bus drivers are greedy would certainly think that the teachers should do it for free.

More realistically, it would need to be staffed by parents on a rotating basis. And hopefully short term.

Who is going to pay for the utilities, increased insurance costs and the custodial staff? Custodial staff have their start times and their own schedual.

Who says parents are trained to supervise recess and study help and extra gym? What do they do with their own extra children? Teachers and staff are not just warm bodies. I expect a certain minimum level of professionalism at all times and I don't think random parents are equiped to supervise in schools. Some may be and some may not be. Even trained substitutes have issues.

This goes back to what the bus drivers union is fighting for. If the city accepts bids from companies that are under no obligation to honor seniority, children will be driven around by inexperienced drivers and matrons. So we agree that experience is a good thing, right?

Barbara

Tue, Feb 12 2013, 5:52 pm

Clarissa wrote:

If it was a situation at my school and there were safety and work issues, I wouldn't mind having supervised play at the school, with parents pitching in. We sometimes have that at our school. For instance, when there are parent-teacher conferences in the evening, they have a dropoff childcare thing staffed by parents. I trust a group of parents to watch children, if that's the best way to handle it. It's not like they'll let them do anything dangerous. Sometimes the kids watch a video. Something educational or cartoonish. Or they play board games.

I'm not saying its perfect, but it could help.

If Shani has 2 kids in 2 schools who get out at the same time, she cannot split herself in half. But if the schools offered after school babysitting for the duration of the strike, she could do both pickups.

Not to mention alleviating congestion by spreading pickup over 90 minutes or so.

scrltfr

Tue, Feb 12 2013, 6:01 pm

Barbara wrote:

Clarissa wrote:

Who is paying for this?

This thread needs to be locked it is getting ridiculous. The bottom line is that nyc parents are finding it very hard to cope during this bus strike. This thread was started to learn how these particular parents were coping . All of a sudden people outside of nyc got their tuchuses up in the air "how dare they complain, blah blah". Get over it people, you have no reason to diminish the aggravation that these parents are going through.

Barbara

Tue, Feb 12 2013, 6:03 pm

scrltfr wrote:

Barbara wrote:

Clarissa wrote:

I live in NYC.

One way of coping is to come up with solutions, temporary or otherwise.

But if you'd rather whine about how difficult it is, and throw out every suggestion of how to cope, enjoy yourself.

amother

Tue, Feb 12 2013, 6:07 pm

Clarissa wrote:

amother wrote:

bedofroses wrote:

amother again. Sorry I misused the amother feature. I don't know why I do this. Cowardly, I know.

is the amother that is quoting all the amothers clarissa? I did not quote myself. I'm amother because the whole world doesn't have to know where I send my child. this is a public thread.

Just ignore her just as I do. Her agenda is to get the amother feature abolished. Most are aware of this and can assume who is actually apologizing for being a cowardly amother each time she does it.

Posting as amother while making it look like different people is against Yael's rules . Assuming the identity of amother and posting an apology in her name is not against the rules but should be.

I am not the amother who said you "chased" her. I understand her post because it resonates with me. I stood up for something under my SN and you didn't agree with me. I felt you were brutal to me and I felt I was perfectly respectful. Sometimes I just don't want to be target.

FTR I only got involved in this discussion because you and your typical cohorts were not being nice. It is always the same few who I think are just not nice. I don't like seeing others as a target either.

Clarissa

Tue, Feb 12 2013, 6:15 pm

scrltfr wrote:

Clarissa wrote:

During Sandy I took care of a neighbor's kid for a day because she had to work and school was closed. She's a single mom and the dad couldn't come in to get him. No biggie. At time like these we need to figure out how to make things work. If a neighbor needed her kid picked up because she works and there's no school bus, I'd do it. I've done it before. And I'd certainly take a shift if they did afterschool childcare at my school. This is my community. I'm not one for getting involved, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

That was one day, we can all make arrangements for one day. This strike is going on a month, its hard to make arrangements, especially for those that have strict time sensitive jobs, those that don't have family around to help, and those that just don't have the money to hire extra help.

I understand. But if they put up a sign-up sheet, people can take shifts. It's easier than having a kid in your house all day, taking a slot a week or every two weeks.