Schools Rush to Fill Bus Drivers' Seats; Area Districts Faced With Shortage of Takers for Low-Benefit Jobs
The hood of the school bus is cracked open like a giant yellow clamshell, and Alysia Saddler leans in with a pointer and ticks through the checklist.</br></br>"This is the radiator cap. It can't be cracked or leaking or hot. The sight glass--when there's enough coolant, it's green. Hoses aren't supposed to have bubbles. There's the air compressor, the power steering is secure, the air lines, the steering shaft . . .</br></br>"The suspension, the spring hangers, the leaves, clamp, the U bolt is in the proper position, the drag link, the tie rod . . . "</br></br>It's an impressive display from a 24-year-old who weeks ago, before starting Howard County's school bus driver training, could barely identify the dipstick under a car's hood. Back then she was just a tow-truck dispatcher from Catonsville; now she's a commodity as rare as a moon rock.</br></br>With the opening bells of schools ready to sound, officials are struggling to get enough bus drivers behind the wheel. During prosperous times--Washington area unemployment was only 2.9 percent in June--any job is tough to fill. But it's hardest to get people to take a job that rarely guarantees full-time hours and only sometimes carries benefits. Add to that the perception that children's behavior and traffic have degenerated, and the entire nation is facing a driver shortage.