According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 5.4 million school-age children have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Meanwhile, there is a shortage of the stimulant medications used for treatment.
A March 6 article by Education Week reports that educators, doctors and parents are now dealing with the effects of an unpredictable drug supply on children’s behavior and performance in the classroom. Obviously their behavior would concern student transporters as well. According to the CDC, 2.7 million of the 5.4 million children had prescriptions for stimulant drugs as of 2007. The shortage began in early 2011 and worsened later that year.
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Natural Gas Vehicles for America (NGVAmerica) is asking supporters of the alternative fuel to contact their senators to vote for The New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans (NAT GAS) Act amid opposition in the House. The amendment to the highway reauthorization bill would extend tax incentives for natural gas vehicles and fueling infrastructure for the next five years, with heavy- and medium-duty fleets especially standing to benefit.
Richard Kolodziej, president of NGVAmerica, says the legislation is necessary to keep alive domestic production that has more than doubled over the past four years. He adds that natural gas could supply the nation for the next 100 years if current consumption rates continue. Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to spend about $1 billion per day on importing foreign oil.
Detroit is experiencing a financial hemorrhaging, yet the mayor said catastrophe can be avoided by making steep cuts, particularly in public transit. But the city’s public transit is already experiencing problems by operating late and overcrowded buses used by adults and students, as reported in a March 8 article.
More than 100,000 Detroiters — many of them students — depend on buses for daily travel, while the city has cut overnight bus service and eliminated several routes. As one of the interviewees says, students, especially those from lower-income areas, are also hurting from the cut in routes and longer bus rides.
