From the Daily News:State lawmakers are pushing to enhance bus service for yeshivas in a way city officials fear could wind up costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of extra dollars, sources said.
A measure that is wrapped into state budget talks and is being promoted heavily by Senate Republicans would require the city to offer busing for all private students in classes taught after 4 p.m. Most of those students attend yeshivas.
The plan also includes a provision that would require city buses transporting after-hour students to drop them off within 600 feet of home, a city source said.
Current regulations require city buses to stop within a half-mile for students in second grade or younger, and within a mile for those between third and sixth grades.
A city memo obtained by the Daily News urges lawmakers to reject the proposal.
Being required to stop within 600 feet of a child’s home, the memo says, “would require twice as many stops as current ... practice, at additional cost.”
City officials are worried that providing a superior service for yeshiva students will lead parents of students at public schools, charter schools and other private schools to clamor for equal treatment, sources said.
The state and city split the cost of busing kids to private schools during the regular school day.
But last year, over the objections of Mayor Bloomberg, the Senate GOP successfully pushed to require city bus service for students at private schools that offer classes until at least 5 p.m.
Thirty schools took advantage — 29 Yeshivas and one charter school — for a total cost increase that was capped at $3 million.
