Lots of them are only 4 and 5 years old, too. I’ve seen the little ones outlast Mom and Dad.
If thousands of kids have walked/biked to school in all kinds of weather historically, I’m certain that a kid of today could do it too. We were lucky enough to have bikes.
My kids’ granny rode in a horse & wagon rig to school. 
SLAM!
ow, my nose.
Okay, another thing about Floridians, we like to complain about the heat, a lot.
Yes, lots of people walk all over the place in Florida during the hottest parts of the year (i.e., most of the year) and don’t die, but it doesn’t mean we have to like it!
And just in case you still think any of my posts were serious (except for the part where I actually mentioned being serious) … 
Ah, sorry if I overreacted. As someone who is car-less (partly by choice*), it bugs the crap out of me when people are shocked that I willingly walk or ride my bike, as if humans have some sort of obligation to be 100% comfortable at all times.
*I don’t have the slightest desire to own a car, but it’s a moot point since I can’t afford one.
Look at all the Minnesotans upthread who were tortured by mid-winter walks to school as kids - you aren’t alone in liking to complain about the weather.
But believing that the weather means requiring a car in order to get to a school two miles or less away, that’s being a wuss.
Right answer - Bicycle with a child seat.
Wrong answer - Ultralight helicopter, then tell the school that they are required to provide you with a clearly marked place to land.
Wrong, but funny.
Um… Why is this wrong? 
If I could afford it I’d fly a helicopter to work! 
The regulations also state that your child must be dressed to attend school. You should send them a bill for those clothes, too,
The state also expects that you will provide accomodation, food and general care for your child… sheesh! Have you stopped to figure out how much that crap costs??? Better bill them for that too!
The OP’s arguement, as far as I can see boils down to “This is inconvienient for me, so how can I play the system to get what i want?”
FML
No. I don’t want anything from the system. As I said, this is simply an exercise.
Well take my examples of expansion of your “exersice” then. I was simply trying to point out that as a contrubting part of society, you have to actually contribute, and if, in your case, it means that your contribution is getting your kid to school, then you should just do it. The 'state" has a lot of expectations of you, its a fact of life that meeting those expectations costs time, money and effort on your part.
You are NOT legally required to buy a car… you are required to get your kid to school. Lots of people with out cars have done it, now its your turn.
FML
I was under the impression that in a free society, I could choose not to be a contributing member. Sit around all day drinking cheap vodka if i wanted to.
Walking the child to school isn’t an option. I could post a pic of her, but she is tiny. No way can she walk two miles each way in Florida heat and be in any condition to learn.
A car pool with the neighbors would require me to own a car.
Hiring a car service to drive her to school every single day would be more expensive that actually owning a vehicle and doing it myself.
I know that I can do it, and I will. It just seems a burden that far outweighs other things that are complained about (like ID cards for voting, and you don’t go to jail for not voting) but doesn’t get any media play…
That wasn’t an exercise, though, that was you being (as you said) dickhead#1.
You don’t care what they’re doing or what their workload is, you wanted attention and that’s all that mattered. She wasn’t standing there for *you *- she had her own priorities.
The state isn’t set up for *your *convenience, it has a whole stateload of people to consider. The school board isn’t set up for *your *convenience, it has other people to consider. Nothing they do will suit everybody within their jurisdiction, how many other parents are complaining about this? Most parents on this thread (including me) just accepted that not every child will get a free bus ride and we coped in various ways.
The result of your exercise seems to be that you have discovered that **you **don’t matter very much and you don’t like it, but you’re not prepared to do anything (like run for the school board) either.
I wish I’d had a helicopter. We did the bike seat until she could walk the distance.
No, that part wasn’t an exercise and wasn’t part of the OP. I was being dickhead#1 because I hate that government attitude. In the private sector you never tell a customer standing in front of you to get lost because this is your “time to catch up”. You serve your customers. That is what pissed me off.
A market approach to education would never have parents being told to come back later and busses being refused to the closer students…
It’s not a market - it’s a school. It it were subject to market forces then no special needs would be addressed because they’re uneconomic. Poor kids would be excluded because even if they could pay for the service, they may not meet the minimum clothing standard (corporate wardrobe).
It’s a state funded, board run, red taped and cash strapped conglomerate of rules - because that’s the only way the government can meet the majority of needs for the majority of students.
As others said - if you want to be treated like their favorite customer, go to a private school and pay for the attention.
I’ll be glad to do that if the state would refund the large portion of my property tax that supports the public school; or give me a voucher to attend a private school.
Why should I have to pay more money for a private school when I have already paid for the public school?
That’s the problem with any government program. When you can’t vote with your money, they have you by the balls.
And I never said I wanted “attention” or “favorite customer” status. Just to be treated as I would when I walked into any other business would be fine.
Again, school is not a business. You aren’t even their customer, your child is.
You have to pay again for the private school on top of everything else because the government has to provide the public school whether your child attends or not. Again, catering for the majority - that’s what the government is required to do - the people who voted them in decided.
You could always leave and find another government that caters to your expectations. Not here though, we have to pay taxes, property taxes and school fees as well (less for public schools and supposedly a donation, but not really) you wouldn’t like it here.
Nope, you pretty much agreed to give up the right not to be a contributing member when you exercised your right to have a child.
Sounds to me like they did treat you like any other customer. They told you they weren’t open for business.
Yeah, she can’t walk the distance. The only solution is to buy a car…
Or get a wagon, a large child stroller, a Kid Hualer for a bike (and a Bike), take her on buses…
What it boils down to, at least as you present yourself, is that you want the benefits of society with out contributing. Enjoy your cheap vodka.
FML
Where should the cutoff be? Should the kid who lives right next door to the school get a school bus? How much are you willing to pay in taxes, anyway? Oh, right, you pay enough already.
I suppose they didn’t need to tell you to come back later–they could have just locked the door. That’s what a business would do if they were not open for customers yet.
I seriously doubt he has to move to make use of home schooling.