Last Monday in the governor’s conference room, he held a budget hearing on education. SC Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum was there, as were people from ETV and other education agencies.

After about two hours of disclosure and discussions, what really stood out was the cost of the state’s school bus system. SC is the only state in the union with a complete statewide school bus system controlled by the state department of education. How to reduce costs and still get the kids to school on time?

With four minutes to adjournment, Governor Sanford asked around the room, maybe 40 people seated and standing, begging for any hot ideas to save money and to improve services. I raised my hand, something unusual for a journalist. But he did ask.

I said some San Antonio school districts have no school buses. School children ride the city buses. With a transit service area population three times Columbia’s (1,300,000 for San Antonio, 420,000 for Columbia), San Antonio puts over 400 buses on the street at eight in the morning. We Columbians have 34 buses on the street at the same time. Put another way, San Antonio has 12 times the buses for three times the service area population. If we had San Antonio’s service ratio, we Columbians would have 136 buses on the street. Charleston, Greenville, Spartanburg, and the smaller cities are all in the same transit trouble with about the same service ratio.

But for now, as we wait for improved numbers of buses in SC, let’s at least follow San Antonio’s policy of letting the school kids take the city bus. It’s a sunk cost, as the economist would say – everything is already paid for.

We should issue a rider’s license to every kid, and every kid could show the rider’s license to every city bus in SC and ride for free. Some kids are sure to get into trouble, but most are simply going to get to school, football practice, afternoon jobs, the city’s main library, and the like. In the meantime, of course, we still have to run the school buses, but at least this idea gets more kids more mobilized without more cost.

Every kid living near every city bus system in SC could have access to every school in the city.

“Wow! I have never heard that before. Now there is food for thought,” said Governor Sandford.