“BUSING, no matter where you are, is never black and white.” That was the conclusion of Variety’s special report in the spring of 1973 regarding the school bus situation on Saipan, then the capital of the U.S.-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the main island of the (Northern) Marianas District. (The other TT districts were Palau, Ponape, the Marshalls, Truk and Yap.)
In the states, “busing” became an explosive issue — literally in the case of Boston, Massachusetts 47 years ago. Yes, Boston, the “hotbed of anti-slavery” before the American Civil War. As some may still remember, in June 1974 a district court ordered the busing “of African American students to predominantly white schools and white students to black schools in an effort to integrate Boston’s geographically segregated public schools.” The result: “It was like a war zone.”
On Saipan, however, the problems with busing had nothing to do with race, even though the island in those days was already a home to various ethnicities and races. The problem here back then was that there were too many students and a not a lot of school buses.
“Too full and too few, they can be seen early in the morning, at lunchtime, in the afternoon, and at most any time suitable for a field trip,” MV reported. “Watching them whizzing by on nearly every main road of the island, and some back roads, one could come to believe that Saipan has practically a yellow blizzard of buses. But look again.”
The Marianas District Education Department told Variety that there were about 875 students who relied on bus transportation to get them to and from school. But there were eight buses only. “Four…hold 40 passengers each, two…hold 50, one…holds 30 and one more…holds 20.” A grand total of 310 seats for 875 students.
“As an interim measure, some of the buses have been making double rounds. That’s why you often see clusters of students along the highways in the morning, patiently waiting, in sunshine or rain, for that second bus — or is it the first? — when the school bell is about to ring.”
When told by the school bus director that in the morning, four buses had been making two rounds each, and in the afternoon, two buses were on double duty, Variety noted: “We still come up with only 470 seats for 875 passengers. Are the other 400 students standing?” Yes, they were. “Remember that these students range from the 3-year-old pre-schoolers to high schoolers in their late teens.”
The Education Department said it was planning to buy two 60-passenger buses, but because of the Trust Territory-wide budget cuts there was only enough money to purchase one new school bus. The education director said he would ask the Congress of Micronesia and the Marianas District Legislature “to provide us with more money, and I hope they will.”
Hope! For (chump) change!
But if lawmakers who said they cared for the children could not provide funding for the students’ school buses then “we’ll be forced to look for other sources to keep the buses running.”
And what were those “other sources”?
“For one…there is the undesired alternative of asking parents to pay for their own children’s transportation to school….” The education director also assured Variety that he was “still hoping that there will be no cut in the education budget; otherwise, teachers, buses and other educational needs will be cut.”
“Earlier this year,” Variety noted, “the Education Department [asked] parents to voluntarily drive their children to and from school, just to relieve the buses of some of their burdens. The effect of this request appears to have been minimal, at most.”
But the department had a “Plan B”: renting out its school buses for the few tourists who were visiting the island in those days. However, “this is done…only when the buses are not needed for regular or special school transportation.” To avoid “competing” with local bus operators, the Education Department charged higher rates for the use of its buses: $15 an hour and $1.75 an hour extra for the driver. Worth about $93 and $11 today.
But while “renting the buses for tourists brings in some additional income, it also brings additional wear and tear on the already overworked buses, shortening their lives even further. The faulty mufflers, billowing oil-filled exhaust and general sluggishness of Saipan’s school buses as they attempt to maneuver the scarred roads and steep hills testify to this fact of life. Breakdowns, late buses, no buses, the students themselves can testify to. The safety factor of aisles-full of standees, the little pre-schoolers under foot; no seat belts; buses that are in use too often to receive proper maintenance — no one seems to want, or have the time, to address [these problems].”
The good ol’ days.
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