Cutting Student MetroCards: Vote Delayed
Ugh. Just get it over with already so we can go on with our lives realizing that this is not the end of the world. This is a followup to SUBWAYblogger’s recent post on this subject that became quite the source of debate.
The vote to cut the program has been delayed. However, there are a lot of issues at hand here.
One (not the biggest, so f-ing relax) of the issues has to do with high school kids being able to apply for the high school of their choice. I think it is a great idea. I wish it existed when I was in high school. I would have loved the opportunity to attend the high school of my choice.
However, when given the opportunity to make my choice, I would not be pissed if my community said it was my responsibility to get myself there, or my parent’s responsibility.
Why?
Because I could go to the school that is much closer to me if I choose.
As parents, you have two main choices here:
Figure out a way to get your kid to school. Should be among your most important tasks in life. No joke.
OR
Pick a closer school and make it your mission in life to make that school a better place.
The transportation issue is an issue because the schools in many areas blow. They are terrible. Naturally, you’d want your kid to go across town or to another borough to the better school.
But what about fixing the school near you?
If parents gave a crap, and actually banded together to make the school in their neighborhood a better place, it would not be such a major issue.
Instead they would rather bitch and moan that they cannot continue to rely on the MetroCard welfare program to get their kids to a better school.
I get it. That school near you sucks. But it sucks because your community let it suck. The parents with kids in that school did not say, “Hey, this is f-ed up and we are going to fix it.”
Get off your asses and fix the problem.
Show me a parent that decides to take matters in to their own hands. The mom that demands the schools be safer, and bugs the crap out of the administration to make it better. Or the father that volunteers to coach basketball at the high school even though his kids aren’t even old enough to attend high school yet. Or the community that bands together to repaint the graffiti on the walls of the school. And the parents that demand teachers that give a crap.
Those are the parents that deserve a FREE MetroCard for their kids to attend a better school until they are able to finish the fight to make their own school better.
If you are not one of those parents, you’ve got no room to complain.
Secondly, there should be a process for kids that have worthless parents to get themselves some MetroCard support. It isn’t their fault that they were born by losers.
Let the comment frenzy begin. If you disagree, all the better. Twitter and Facebook all your friends on over to tell me what an a-hole I am. Bring it on.
- 44 Rider Opinions
- Tags: MetroCards, student fare
No. Children should not be left behind because of what their parents do or do not do. They should be given a good shot on their own – irregardless of their parents. Otherwise you have privileged kids going to privileged schools and non-privileged kids going to worse schools.
However, the MTA is not responsible for transporting students. The school district, and, ultimately, the state is. If they choose to do that through a subsidized Metrocard, that's probably best all around.
ReplyI wish they voted on this kind of issue in the uk
ReplyFine and dandy–IF you've got parents. In my high school–a good, bright eyed high school that I was lucky to get into–I was one of the few I knew who lived with their parents. Everyone else lived in foster care, their aunt sometimes, their uncle, grandparents, etc. Too bad your theory neglects those kids.
Too bad your theory also neglects that in many areas, the "local" school isn't local. When Bloomy gets done shutting Long Island City High School, my closest zone school had I been going to school now would still be over 3.5 miles away. LIC is over 3 as is. In many cases–especially farther spans of Queens and Brooklyn–the 'close, nearby school' you so do laud and condemn for lack of parental involvement is by no means close.
My parents both worked 60-hour a week jobs when I was in high school in an attempt to make ends meet. You're right: they should have taken the time when they got off of work at 5 on a Sunday to travel an hour and traveled an hour by bus to get to my local zone high school to "make a difference." What's that you say? Nothing going on at 5 on a Sunday? Well blasts, that must be my parents fault too, right?
Rather than blaming the parents who have never had to even consider worrying about the cost of transporting their children to school, how about we be realistic and realize parents planting trees isn't going to help when the proper criteria isn't in place in the schools to make a difference quite yet.
ReplyFirst of all "irrigardless" isn't a word.
Secondly, I agree that it shouldn't be the MTA, but the school district or state ends up being the same thing. The MTA is a state run service, so it doesn't really matter which government organization pays for it because we all end up paying through taxes.
However, the money SHOULD come from the local government of NYC. There's no reason tax dollars from someone in Albany or Utica should be spent in NYC to give kids a free ride to school.
At the end of the day, it is the parents and the community's problem.
ReplyPoint well argued. But now we're into another very related subject…
Perhaps people that have to work 2 – 60 hour per week jobs should not have kids in the first place.
I agree about the kids in foster care and what not, but I'm not really concerned about them in this case. The state will pay for their MetroCards regardless because they are in foster care. So it should not be an issue for that group of kids.
And remember, I did say this:
"Secondly, there should be a process for kids that have worthless parents to get themselves some MetroCard support. It isn’t their fault that they were born by losers."
ReplyPeople love to approach these topics from their parents point of view. Unfortunately, your parents didn't live in a time where overpopulation was increasing as fast as unskilled labor jobs were decreasing. You, however, do. This is a fact of life in 2010. We don't have the infrastructure to support the amount of people using it, the jobs to keep these people employed, and the capacity to take care of every single persons non essential needs.
I understand a lot of kids are disadvantaged. That sucks. But that's life. Our most wretchedly poor people in America are middle class by world standards. When you live here, you have the opportunity to do anything, but only if you choose to apply yourself. If you care enough to get to school, you'll get to where you can and you'll make the most of it. If you don't, you were just a drain on collective resources to begin with. No judgement either way.
Call me insensitive, or put some kind of poorly thought out racial spin on my opinion and call me a bigot if that makes you feel better. I promise you I couldn't care less, and all the wishful thinking in the world won't change the facts in my first paragraph. We are reaching capacity. Stop fucking.
If you have a kid, move to the suburbs.
If you can't afford that, don't have a kid, because that's a clear indicator that you can't afford the burden of a child either.
For the kids we already have among us, I would urge them to relearn the lost art of walking. You have virtually no chance of stepping on a landmine in midtown, which is more than I can say for much of the rest of the world, so maybe we should teach kids to enjoy that, and maybe take a swipe or two at childhood obesity while we are at it.
I walked three miles to school and back every day for ten years and managed to live to tell the tale. Shocking, I know. And I didn't even have an ipod.
ReplyAmen. A-freaking-men.
ReplySubwayBlogger/Andrew 2012!!!!!
ReplyA lot of it has to do with the school board too. My own school was so resistant to change that the only thing they could ever agree on was a pay cut for teachers.
ReplyI would agree..People need to come out and work actively to get better schools around them..it will help both the ones who can but wont need to send there children away and those who can't. I think its a simple but never properly thought of solution. If one community actively starts it.. may be we will see some sort of a mini revolution everywhere..
ReplyIt is easy to say the parents should band together and work to make their school a better place, I totally agree that parents should be more active on behalf of their kids, and not just give all the responsibility to the school. But, it is a true and unfortunate fact that schools in New York vary dramatically in quality – that's quality of teaaching and the quality of how much the children who attend progres in terms of intelligence and academic ability. That is measurable and clear, and it is perfectly normal and understandable that parents want to put their children in these schools, rather than in a school which might be nearer but has a poor reputation and hope that their work can improve the school's quality in time.
It is right and good that schools do have to compete for students by consistently improving the quality of their teaching and atmosphere. Parents vote for schools by choosing where to send their children, in this way there is healthy competition between schools.
ReplyThat's not to say that once they are part of a school parents shouldn't go all hell and lethere to improve that school themselves, I totally agree with that point.
ReplyLower marginal tax rates and you'll see more unskilled jobs created. Guaranteed.
ReplyI agree, they say they will give us a vote and then say we won't understand it. Either that or keep rerunning the vote until they get the result they want.
ReplyYay let's encourage further segregation of one of the most segregated cities in the country. Yeah, who needs diversity and integration anyway? Separate but equal, I mean why not?
Replywow this topic puts people in weird mood…. to be honest I don't care if they have to pay or not.
ReplyI liked your view point. It is harsh but seems like it is true and that is the reality.
ReplyYou're a very sarcastic person.
ReplyChicago now has new subway cars with "New York Style" seating! Check it out on my blog!! http://afoolforthecity.blogspot.com/
ReplyAs if getting on the subway for free alleviates any worries about getting somewhere. Because we all know that once you've paid that fare there's NOTHING at all to worry about.
ReplyI believe that if you were given the choice of high school, That shouldn't decide for you not to get a metrocard. There should not be a argument about this topic as raising a kid is expensive already. Most rich kids have car rides to school why the poor kids need to travel to school. I don't believe that you should try to go to a school that is closer to you if it meant going to a bad school. I think that is wrong. Every kid should have the opportunity to go to the best school possible!
ReplyI believe that the MTA should stop most of their renovations/new subway line to save money, cut the deficit and keep the real plans and jobs to the employees!!!
ReplyTHE PROGRAM WHEN FIRST CREATED WAS HELPED WITH MONEY FROM NYC AND NYS, AS THE FARES INCREASED AND INFLATION AS WELL THE MONEY GIVEN TO THE TA WENT DOWN TO WHERE IT IS NOW ZERO. THE TA IS TRYING TO GET EVERY DOLLAR THEY CAN AND THEY WILL THREATEN EVERY PERSON THEY CAN TO HELP FUND THERE BUDGET, THE PROBLEM LIES NOT IN THE WORKERS BUT WITH THE MANAGEMENT THAT MAKES VERY POOR DECISIONS ON WHERE THE MONEY IS SPENT. THEY OVER PAY FOR NEARLY EVERYTHING THEY BUY FROM A THIRD PARTY WHICH THEN BUYS THERE ITEMS FROM CHINA,PAKISTAN,INDIA,KOREA, THEY SHOULD BE FORCED TO BUY AMERICAN
ReplyThe MTA has huge Budget issues so even if this costs them nothing directly, all the legal issues will cost a considerable amount of money.
The NY Subway system just needs Cellphone access, at least in the stations, like any decent Major city around the world (Sydney, London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong etc). This should be mandatory just so it can be used in emergencies.
ReplyWhy on earth did they delay it, so silly
ReplyHas this been resolved yet?
ReplyI wish they would just sort it out already
ReplyDoes anyone know if this has been sorted out yet?
ReplyThe problem with the MTA is their budget. I am not sure when they changed the way they calculate their budget, yet it seems to me the MTA can not add. Their are several parts to the MTA, there's the Buses, Trains and REAL ESTATE – yes real estate. (There probably more things I am not adding to the list butyou get the idea.) Right now their gap comes from the really bad decisions they have made in the real estate market. They are making their customers suffer for their poor real estate market turn out. If they were a smart company their budget would not be this big pot. It would be three or more separate company's this way if one fails it would not effect the the other two. They are saying that the free rides for children is a "$160 million program annually". I can not see it costing any money to run that program. That program should be a courtesy for doing business in New York City. End of story.
ReplyI think the problem should be solved.
ReplyI worked fro the TA in the past and in my experience most of the kids abused the pass anyway…even back in the day when they were still using the paper (it was even worse then, at least the metrocard only had 3 rides per day) "flash" passes. The pass is for them to go to school and back. Not cut out, go to their friends' homes, ride all over the system, "loan" them to their crackhead parents looking for a free ride to Pookie's crib or whatever. Nothing lasts forever. Get over it.
ReplyMetro Cards excite the student population to come to school and actively participate in the school. If they take away the Metro Card their saying that its not okay for students to travel to school for free. Many students dont have the money to waste on transportation and well wind up missing more days of school or being late more frequently. The students will fall back on their work ethic, and the public schools will loose their credibility to call themselves a good school.
ReplyI hope things have gone that way. Cutting plans at one place would led to revamping the plans at the jobs front. It might help a little but not much.
ReplyI think every thing will be overcome.
ReplyThe longer this gets put off the better if you ask me
ReplyIm a student and have to scrimp and save enough as it is
ReplyI love the argument. Making a difference would not have happenned by getting off from work at 5 but it is not just about that. I am very sure, your parents would have made a difference in some other way.
ReplyI've been fortunate enough to have parents who have always cared about my studies, and were willing to relocate as a family in order to provide me the better education. When my parents felt that the school near us was not what my sister needed, we relocated to a different area just so my sister could attend that school! I think sometimes parents, and students need to find the solution on their own, that's truly the best way! If you can't stand the way things are, take yourself to higher places, don't wait, take action!
Till then,
Jean
ReplyPersonally I am a fan of home schooling but that's just me- I don't want to subject my kids to the crap they're taught in school these days- that should free things up!
ReplyIf the student needs a metrocard to get to school. I think they should get one.
Replyi think picking school to near is not possible for every one, so finding another option will be necessary.
ReplyOnce being a student myself, if i get admission in one of the best schools then i would not mind the distance. In my case, my parents had some money and i had saved some and together with I was ready to take loan.
Replyyes, it is had for us students to save money! Please don't do it!!
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