Paul Wargaski: My son still doesn't have a way to get to school in Chicago

Chicago Tribune

9 hours ago

It's that time of year, when parents are buying backpacks, teachers are decorating classrooms and kids are heading back to school. But in Chicago, another tradition has become just as predictable: Chicago Public Schools can't get all of our kids to class.
I received a message earlier this summer from our principal at one of the oldest dual language schools in the country that the CPS Hub Stop program will not be available when the school year starts in mid-August. The Hub Stop program is supposed to provide centralized pickup and drop-off locations for eligible general education students; however, it won't be available until December, when the school year is half over. This feels like a shrug from a system that's been shrugging for years.
Let that sink in! This has been going on for several years, and CPS has not come up with sustainable options. Every year, families like mine are expected to scramble — taking off work, coordinating carpools and burning through gas, time and patience — to patch together a system that CPS should have had in place months ago. Last year, 20% of students with disabilities requiring transportation were not routed by the first day of school.
This is not a small inconvenience. For some students, especially those who have disabilities or housing instability or those furthest from opportunity, this is a crisis. Even interim CPS CEO Macquline King has described the situation as a 'transportation crisis.' These are the same students CPS should be prioritizing. When push comes to shove, those priorities evaporate.
The current transportation model is broken, and until we embrace alternative options to supplement traditional school bus routes, thousands of local kids will continue to be at a disadvantage.
That's why legislation such as HB 989 matters. In short, the proposal increases the pool of safe, qualified drivers and routes. It also gives parents and caregivers the options to track rides in real time. The bill would allow participating school districts to contract with vetted, third-party transportation providers — giving them flexibility to serve high-need students who too often fall through the cracks. The program would focus specifically on students experiencing homelessness, students with disabilities, foster youths who face frequent placement changes and students who live outside traditional bus routes. In other words, it's a smart, measured step that gives school leaders one more tool to meet the urgent needs of their most vulnerable students.
Illinois families are already stretched. Our schools are navigating staffing shortages, budget constraints and post-pandemic challenges. Adding unreliable transportation to that list only deepens inequities — and for many students, makes school access nearly impossible. We know many families where the lack of transportation has been a significant factor in moves out of the district and the state. Adopting HB 989 helps families stay in their schools and in Illinois.
Let's think outside the bus to engage families and get kids to school.
Illinois ranks among the top states for transportation-related chronic absenteeism, and it's low-income, Black, Latino, disabled and homeless students who are hit the hardest. We need a solution that would help turn that around — not by overhauling the system but by offering a safety valve when the traditional system falls short.
The data from other parts of the country is clear. In Riverside County, California, home to nearly 2.5 million residents, the use of flexible transportation options helped boost attendance for foster youth from just 29% to nearly 80%. Nationwide, chronic absenteeism surged during the pandemic, rising from 17% in 2018-19 to 31% in 2021-22 — leaving nearly 15 million students chronically absent.
This isn't about privatizing school transportation or replacing buses. This is about acknowledging that the world has changed. The rigid systems designed decades ago can't keep up with today's challenges. Driver shortages are a national issue. Routing delays and late starts have become normalized. Meanwhile, students are missing instructional time, special needs services and federally guaranteed accommodations.
The question shouldn't be: Can we afford to provide options? It should be: Can we afford not to?
Because here's what I know: When my son misses school, he falls behind. When parents miss work to get them there, families fall behind. When leaders fail to act — even when solutions are on the table — we all fall behind.
As a parent, I can handle a lot — homework battles, early mornings, challenges that arise during the school day. What my fellow parents shouldn't have to handle is a system that tells their children that 'you're on your own.'
We need to stop treating school transportation like an afterthought and start treating it like the educational lifeline that it is. No matter the school, no matter how caring the teachers are and no matter how dedicated a student may be, none of it matters if the kids can't get through the door.
Let's fix this. Let's give our schools the tools they need. Let's give families the peace of mind they deserve. And most of all, let's give our kids a fighting chance to show up.
Because showing up should be the minimum we guarantee.