What's happening
This bill requires New York City school bus contracts to include protections for school bus workers' jobs, wages, benefits, and seniority.
Why it matters
Job Security for Bus Workers. By mandating retention or hiring preference for school bus workers when contracts change hands, the bill aims to reduce job loss and instability for drivers, mechanics, dispatchers, and attendants—professions often affected by contract turnover.
Preservation of Compensation and Benefits. The bill ensures that school bus workers retain not just their jobs but also their existing wages, health, welfare, retirement benefits, and seniority, supporting workers and their families by preventing reductions in compensation or loss of accrued benefits.
Stability in Student Transportation Services. Maintaining experienced and qualified personnel through these protections could improve safety and continuity for students relying on school transportation, as disruptions caused by mass layoffs or hiring of new, less-experienced staff are minimized.
Cost Accountability for the School District. New York City’s Department of Education would be responsible for any additional costs resulting from these protections, making the city—not contractors—financially accountable for upholding labor standards and potentially impacting how the district budgets for transportation services.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Protect School Bus Workers
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Referred to new york city education
- Committee discharged and committed to new york city education
- Referred to education
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5096
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 9, 2019
Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, LIU -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to contracts for the transportation of school children
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 14 of section 305 of the education law, as amended by chapter 273 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
a. (1) All contracts for the transportation of school children, all contracts to maintain school buses owned or leased by a school district that are used for the transportation of school children, all contracts for mobile instructional units, and all contracts to provide, maintain and operate cafeteria or restaurant service by a private food service management company shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner, who may disapprove a proposed contract if, in [his] the opinion of the commissioner, the best interests of the district will be promoted thereby. Except as provided in paragraph e of this subdivision, all such contracts involving an annual expenditure in excess of the amount specified for purchase contracts in the bidding requirements of the general municipal law shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, which responsibility shall be determined by the board of education or the trustee of a district, with power hereby vested in the commissioner to reject any or all bids if, in [his] the opinion of the commissioner, the best interests of the district will be promoted thereby and, upon such rejection of all bids, the commissioner shall order the board of education or trustee of the district to seek, obtain and consider new proposals. All proposals for such transportation, maintenance, mobile instructional units, or cafeteria and restaurant service shall be in such form as the commissioner may prescribe. Advertisement for bids shall be published in a newspaper or newspapers designated by the board
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09912-02-9
S. 5096 2
of education or trustee of the district having general circulation within the district for such purpose. Such advertisement shall contain a statement of the time when and place where all bids received pursuant to such advertisement will be publicly opened and read either by the school authorities or by a person or persons designated by them. All bids received shall be publicly opened and read at the time and place so specified. At least five days shall elapse between the first publication of such advertisement and the date so specified for the opening and reading of bids. The requirement for competitive bidding shall not apply to an award of a contract for the transportation of pupils or a contract for mobile instructional units, if such award is based on an evaluation of proposals in response to a request for proposals pursuant to paragraph e of this subdivision. The requirement for competitive bidding shall not apply to annual, biennial, or triennial extensions of a contract nor shall the requirement for competitive bidding apply to quadrennial or quinquennial year extensions of a contract involving transportation of pupils, maintenance of school buses or mobile instructional units secured either through competitive bidding or through evaluation of proposals in response to a request for proposals pursuant to paragraph e of this subdivision, when such extensions [(1)] (i) are made by the board of education or the trustee of a district, under rules and regulations prescribed by the commissioner, and, [(2)] (ii) do not extend the original contract period beyond five years from the date cafeteria and restaurant service commenced thereunder and in the case of contracts for the transportation of pupils, for the maintenance of school buses or for mobile instructional units, that such contracts may be extended, except that power is hereby vested in the commissioner, in addition to [his] the existing statutory authority of the commissioner to approve or disapprove transportation or maintenance contracts, [(i)] (A) to reject any extension of a contract beyond the initial term thereof if [he] the commissioner finds that amount to be paid by the district to the contractor in any year of such proposed extension fails to reflect any decrease in the regional consumer price index for the N.Y., N.Y.-Northeastern, N.J. area, based upon the index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) during the preceding twelve month period; and [(ii)] (B) to reject any extension of a contract after ten years from the date transportation or maintenance service commenced thereunder, or mobile instructional units were first provided, if in [his] the opinion of the commissioner, the best interests of the district will be promoted thereby. Upon such rejection of any proposed extension, the commissioner may order the board of education or trustee of the district to seek, obtain and consider bids pursuant to the provisions of this section. The board of education or the trustee of a school district electing to extend a contract as provided herein, may, in its discretion, increase the amount to be paid in each year of the contract extension by an amount not to exceed the regional consumer price index increase for the N.Y., N.Y.-Northeastern, N.J. area, based upon the index for all urban consumers (CPI-U), during the preceding twelve month period, provided it has been satisfactorily established by the contractor that there has been at least an equivalent increase in the amount of [his] such contractor's cost of operation, during the period of the contract.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, the board of education of a school district located in a city with at least one million inhabitants shall include, in contracts for the transportation of school children in kindergarten through grade twelve, whether awarded through competitive bidding or through evaluation of proposals in
S. 5096 3
response to a request for proposals pursuant to paragraph e of this subdivision, provisions for the retention or preference in hiring of school bus workers and for the preservation of wages, health, welfare and retirement benefits and seniority for school bus workers who are hired pursuant to such provisions for retention or preference in hiring, in connection with such contracts. For purposes of this subparagraph, "school bus worker" shall mean an operator, mechanic, dispatcher or attendant who: (i) was employed as of June thirtieth, two thousand ten or at any time thereafter by (A) a contractor that was a party to a contract with the board of education of a school district located in a city with at least one million inhabitants for the transportation of school children in kindergarten through grade twelve, in connection with such contract, or (B) a subcontractor of a contractor that was a party to a contract with the board of education of a school district located in a city with at least one million inhabitants for the transportation of school children in kindergarten through grade twelve, in connection with such contract, and (ii) has been furloughed or become unemployed as a result of a loss of such contract, or a part of such contract, by such contractor or such subcontractor, or as a result of a reduction in service directed by such board of education during the term of such contract. Any costs directly attributed to the provisions of this subparagraph shall be covered by the board of education of the school district located in a city with at least one million inhabitants.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to contracts for the transportation of school children
Purpose
This bill would provide employee protection provisions for New York City school bus drivers and attendants.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends Subdivision 14 of Section 305 of the Education Law by adding a new paragraph that requires a board of education of a school district located in a city with at least one million inhabitants to include employee protection provisions in its contracts for the trans- portation of schoolchildren. The board of education's transportation contract must include provisions for the retention or preference in hiring of school bus workers and for the preservation of wages, health, welfare, and retirement benefits and seniority for school bus workers.
Read the full memo (656 words)
Section 2 is the effective date.
Justification
This bill would restore critical employee protections to New York City school bus drivers and attendants, by ensuring that these hardworking New Yorkers are once again entitled to fair wages, reliable pensions, and equal treatment by every school bus contractor. This bill would require that any future Request-For-Bid (RFB) or Request-For-Proposal (RFP), issued by New York City, include employee protection provisions (EPPs). The employee protection provisions require contractors to hire experienced and qualified workers from a master seniority list. This change would also give the City of New York the ability to renegotiate any existing contracts, with the mutual consent of the bus contractor, that do not include the EPPs.
School bus drivers and attendants play a critical, daily role in the lives of students and their families. They are the first person a child sees in the morning when they leave home and the one constant during their return home in the afternoon. Many drivers and attendants work 12-hour days, beginning their shifts as early as 5:00AM and returning home after nightfall.
The vast majority of these workers are women, and 80% are women and men of color. EPPs ensure that these hardworking New Yorkers are hired based on experience and the years of real-world training that come with safely driving, managing, and often consoling dozens of children of all ages, abilities, and emotional states. Their wages are modest, but with EPPs, drivers and attendants have historically had an opportunity to build a meaningful career and earn a fair pension.
For over four decades, a bipartisan legacy of New York City worked hard to ensure that EPPs were in every school bus contract. However, in 2012, the Bloomberg Administration hastily withdrew EPPs from school bus RFBs and RFPs, forcing thousands of workers into a labor strike that cost taxpayers $25 million. Over time, the withdrawal of EPPs created an uneven playing field between contractors that guarantee fair wages and pensions though EPPs in collective bargaining agreements and those that do not. This imbalance has forced at least four different EPP contrac- tors into bankruptcy since 2012, leading to massive and unprecedented turnover among the ranks of drivers and attendants.
These experienced workers have been forced out of a job and on to government assistance-such as Medicaid, food stamps, and housing assis- tance-coming at a direct cost to taxpayers. These conditions have pushed the industry to a breaking point. If the State does not take action this year, thousands of jobs will be lost, union-friendly contractors will go bankrupt or withdraw from the school system, and anti-union forces will take permanent control of the industry.
While the City of New York supports EPPs, the Bloomberg Administration's withdrawal led to years of litigation that has made it extremely diffi- cult for the current administration to fulfill its goal of leveling the playing field and treating all workers fairly. State action is required to solve this enduring and dangerous flaw in New York City's school bus contracting system.
Legislative history
New bill
State and local fiscal implications
To be determined
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.