California’s Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is transitioning its school bus fleet to all-electric models amid high rates of chronic absenteeism and poor academic performance.
With help from the Biden administration, OUSD is working alongside a company called Zum to roll out 74 electric buses, and the company says that OUSD is the first major American school district to switch over to 100% electric buses. While the district deploys those buses, its students of all ages are struggling to reach proficiency in reading and mathematics, and about 30% of OUSD students are chronically absent, according to California state data.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave Zum more than $35 million through its Clean School Bus program to secure electric buses for California school districts, and OUSD benefited from that funding. Notably, Vice President Kamala Harris has been a leading proponent of the EPA’s green school buses program.
In the 2022-2023 school year, just 14.5% of OUSD students exceeded performance standards for reading, compared to 34% of students who failed to meet standards, according to the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CASPP). The statistics for writing proficiency are even worse, with only 10.5% of OUSD students exceeding the standard while 46% of students are below the standard. (RELATED: Teachers Union Issues List Of Climate Demands As Students Struggle To Read At Grade Level)
Biden Admin Pumps $900 Million Into Green School Buses As America’s Students Continue To Struggle https://t.co/BEnVM3cOPi
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With respect to math, approximately 74% of all OUSD students fell short of standards in the 2022-2023 school year, according to CASPP
“OUSD is proud to lead the way with safe and sustainable transportation for our students,” Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell, the district’s superintendent, said of the OUSD electric bus fleet. “This is a landmark achievement, especially in Oakland, where families are disproportionately impacted by exposure to air pollution and high rates of asthma and other respiratory ailments. Zum’s electric school buses provide our students quieter, cleaner rides to and from school, giving them a better chance at success in the classroom, while ensuring the District is doing its part to cut down on air pollution to the benefit of all Oakland residents.”
Other school districts across the country have tried to adopt comparatively more expensive electric school buses to ferry students to and from school, but the results so far have not been especially promising, according to WirePoints. Major issues, including mechanical problems with chargers and poor performance in cold weather, have marred electric school bus programs in places like Bethlehem, New York; Yarmouth, Maine; and Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“With funding to Zum of over $35 million for California school districts, EPA is proud to be advancing the rollout of electric school buses here in Oakland and across our state, helping create a future where our children can breathe cleaner air,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Deputy Regional Administrator Cheree Peterson. “I’ve seen firsthand the advantages of these electric buses, with the absence of noxious diesel emissions benefiting students, school staff, and neighboring communities. Thanks to the unprecedented federal investments in this technology, more zero-emissions school buses will be on the road in Oakland.”
OUSD did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
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