We Recommend an ‘against' Vote on Prop to Keep Dallas County Schools Bus System

If you care about government accountability, be sure to read all the way to the bottom of the Dallas County ballot and vote "against" Proposition A, which would continue the Dallas County Schools transportation service.Despite its misleading name, Dallas County Schools doesn't operate any schools or educate students. The agency provides bus service to nine local school districts and over 70,000 students — but, sadly, it does so poorly, has virtually no accountability for all the taxpayer dollars it spends, and is on the verge of financial collapse. It's time to end these abuses and dissolve the agency. Dogged reporting by Scott Friedman of KXAS-TV (NBC5) uncovered numerous incidents of reckless driving, millions of dollars paid to settle school bus accident claims and hundreds of traffic tickets for bus drivers who ran red lights.DCS also is millions of dollars in debt, thanks largely to a questionable $25 million land deal that past management engineered for quick cash to pay down massive debt from a botched partnership to sell school bus cameras to other districts. A questionable sale-leaseback arrangement piled on additional long-term debt and obligated taxpayers to make $47 million of payments over 20 years on four school bus parking lots that the agency had owned free and clear.  Continue reading...