Strapped Schools Say Bye to Bus Rides

As high gas prices strangle US school budgets, more officials are cutting back where it hurts student scores least: school buses. Some schools are limiting or redesigning bus routes, but others have nixed busing entirely, leaving thousands of kids to hoof it under adult supervision. Some parents object, but many are thrilled to see kids walking like they did, Newsweek reports.

"Parents are buying into it more and more," said one principal whose school cut busing entirely. But the move has an ecological downside when parents decide to drive their kids; the carbon footprint "of one schoolbus replaces 36 private vehicles," one expert said. Other families are simply enjoying the trek. "It's like recess before school," one student said.
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