School transport costs – would you support a universal school bus subsidy

[ThatFancyPeachCrow]

I'm campaigning for a universal school bus travel subsidy for all school-aged children in England.
For families whose children attend grammar schools, selective schools or other schools outside their local area, transport costs can be substantial. Private school bus services can cost thousands of pounds a year, on top of the other costs associated with education.
I believe access to education shouldn't come with an excessive transport burden simply because a child attends a school further from home. A fairer, more consistent approach to school transport support would make a real difference to families.
I've started a petition calling for a universal school bus travel subsidy and would really appreciate support from other parents who feel this is an important issue.
Please consider signing and sharing it if you agree:
https://www.change.org/p/provide-universal-school-bus-travel-subsidy-for-all-school-aged-children

No.

No

No, the country can’t afford it

No, I think you should go to your local school and if you choose to go to a different one, then you pay.

No thanks. I won't be offering to subsidise your travel costs for choosing to send your kid to a school further away.

Good luck in finding other mugs to volunteer their money for this op, i think you'll need it!

Erm no ta

I'm confused about what you mean by this because children who live far enough away from their local state school get free bus travel anyway. How exactly would the subsidy work, and would it replace the free buses? I think you'd be better off campaigning for the eligibility requirements for the free bus travel to be relaxed.

No, I think the system works as it is. If you choose to go to a school that isn't your local one, you should fund that choice yourself. If you don't have a school nearby or you get allocated to a further one, the council should pay.

Children attending selective schools are already getting a large advantage compared to children who do not. Paying for their bus fares on top would be a slap in the face to the kids who had to settle for their local comp.

Also the petition states "...limiting our ability to support her after-school participation in additional activities." Many parents who don't have to pay for travel costs still can't afford much or any after-school activities.

If you are genuinely struggling with the travel costs is the grammar school able to provide any financial assistance with that?

If it's just so you can have money left over to pay for e.g. football or drama club, I wouldn't want tax money diverted to this.

I would actively oppose support for this. If you want to send your child to grammar or selective school, pay for them
to get there yourself. That’s what child benefit is for.

Even when sending children to the local
comprehensive it is up to parents to get their children there. It’s just normal parental responsibility like providing them with food and clothing.

Perosnally I don’t even think children should receive free transportation to special schools if they are already receiving PIP/DLA because the state should help subsidise the extra costs of their education and attendance, they should only have to pay for it once, not twice.

I'm in Scotland, where all young people get free bus travel until their 22nd birthday so I agree with your petition for state schools.

I don't know much about the grammar school system because we don't have them here, but why should a kid from a lower-income family be denied the chance to go to a better school because their parents can't afford it?

I would still make parents of private school kids pay, though!

Subsidise with what money? No.

Is this a stealth, "My child goes to a grammar" boast?

Very low income like FSM? Yes

Other families should pay or move house.

By selective schools do you mean private schools? If so, that’s beyond ridiculous. Of course those parents should pay.

I mean surely when choosing schools people should factor in the travel costs if it’s not their nearest school??? Expecting the state to pay for travel to a school 10 miles away because YOU have chosen it is absolutely wild!!!

if you choose to send your child to a school out of your catchment area then you should pay I’d say it’s the

Where we are if it’s your nearest school THAT MEETS YOUR CHILDS NEEDS (the policy says i think?) and it’s over 3 miles you get free travel.
when we bought our house we factored all of this in!!

Bloody hell. Is there seriously no end to entitlement?

No.

I’m in agreement with the DLA/PIP transport thing - the 2 families I know who claim DLA the money just goes into the family pot as it were and it’s just extra money as any school transport, prescriptions, and in one case, respite or extra stuff is already paid for anyway!!!!!

If people are spending it on private therapy, private carers, or things such as sessions in hydropools to aid mobility, private physio or funding additional or private respite care then yes - absolutely yes, but one woman I know even says “it’s just extra for us it really helps” !!!!! and before anyone says anything, this isn’t a disability bashing comment it’s a general observation. What is the money actually for??? It’s meant to help the person not go into a “family pot” as extra for holidays and other stuff.

I’m absolutely all for supporting people who need the help but why should families who don’t claim be worse off in a COLC because they don’t have extra “in their pot”???

I also work in the nhs and see DLA and PIP forms come in and I always remember one woman wanting to claim PIP because she had a very small hernia! The entitlement is something else!

But they don’t if they are at a grammar school out of area. I had to leave my grammar school and change to an inadequate comp 4 month before my GCSEs when we were placed in a council house out of the area due to DV and my mum couldn’t afford the £5 a day bus fare. Which part of that was mine/my mum’s choice?

No.
if you choose a school further away suck it up!

It’s a shame that you had to leave your grammar school, but you were provided with a free school place that could meet your needs when you moved. That’s all the taxpayer needs to be obliged to do.

No, transport should be free to your local school, if it's further than walking distance. If you want to choose a school further away then you should pay for it.

In Scotland all under 22s get free public buses anyway. But we also have school buses and children who live over two miles from their catchment school get a school bus pass (not sure if this is the same in every council area). You don't get a bus pass if you don't go to the catchment school through choice.

Absolutely not

So a child could go to private school an hour or more from home and you want the public purse to pay to get them there? That is not going to work.

In theory no but we got new neighbours a few months ago. Their 13 year old can’t get space at the local school (ten min walk away) so she has to get the bus to the other side of town. I think in cases like that some help should be available, but part of the reason she can’t get a space at her local school is because kids are coming from out of area