Bus monitor makes 15k, I make maybe 10 doing more work?

[RogueMom]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

It's because it is simple and mindless work.

Not anymore it's not. I spent 14 years with a major retailer, the last 5 in department management making barely $10.00 an hour. They expect one manager today to do the work of what used to be 3 managers, and with staff underneath you to delegate to. It's no longer "simple" work either. They want "rocket science" for a pathetic amount of pay in a job with horrible hours and lots of stress, "goal" meeting pressure, and more and more they do want people with college degrees for such piddly compensation. We used to have seasoned store managers making $80K. Those days are long gone. They don't want to pay that anymore. My last store manager was a young girl right out of college with a "fashion merchandising" degree. She was paid less than 35K for basically giving her life over to the company.

To the OP - Get out of retail. Quick.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by car54

Soon after I retired from Federal service, I became quite bored and found myself in school transportation.

Bus monitors (we call them attendants) in my school system make up to twice what the lady in the story makes. However, we don't normally put attendants on regular ed buses like she was on. Ours primarily serve on the special needs (short) buses.

Our attendants are responsible for operating the wheelchair lift and properly securing the wheelchairs, which is harder than it may seem. Some students are in very fragile health and the attendants must keep a close eye on them.

Then there are the violent kids, that will attack the driver of a moving bus. The attendant is the only thing between them and the driver. Some very high risk bus routes have 2 attendants as they are dealing with strong, adult sized students. Believe me, they earn their money.

They not only earn their money but they save lives and help avoid law suits. As you well know you can have up to 45 kids on a bus and early in the school year even more until routes get adjusted. Do we want 45 kids on a bus acting as kids sometimes do and the only adult on the bus driving it? Do we want the bus driver paying attention to the road and traffic or looing in their rear view mirror trying to figure out who is causing a ruckus. Sure some might say they should pull the bus over but that can be a challenge on many roads and it certainly will throw the schedule off for getting the kids home. So we have the accident wth the bus with no monitor and a history of disruptive students on that specific bus and the resulting negligence law suit. Make it a special education bus and off to the legal races it is. As you know Special Education students have a thick folder with accompaning IEP that details their behavior and how it is to be MONITORED and handled just waiting for the attorney to use to identify non compliance. Do folks really want someone worth 15K in the job market managing that situation so the driver can drive safely?