I'm all for decrying leftist propaganda, but if you think driving a massive vehicle while a bunch of screaming kids get up to god-knowns-what behind you is "fun and entertaining" you probably need your head examined.
you talk like someone that never seen a school bus, let alone been on one
I have, in the past, pre-covid, most people that drove the bus seemed content, happy to do so, cheerful, getting kids on and off a bus seemed a enjoyable time for everyone. Plus I've talked to many bus drivers, none seemed to indicate any trouble.
Painting the job as something terrifying is absurd and lines up with the absurdity of the paper:
"oh my GOD! Kids .... we all know kids are evil ... kids plus 15 tons of a vehicle ... ohhh it must be terrifying"
I can't speak to your experience, but my bus driver of many years was a cranky old woman that frequently had to yell at kids to knock something off.
I'm not sure if her being cranky was a cause or effect of the yelling.
"Calling kids hard to deal with is...
Shuffles deck, pulls card
Leftist propaganda!"
Looking at it, driving a school bus does not seem to be any harder than driving any other bus, or truck. Does not seem to be harder than cutting up chicken, doing roadwork, cleaning a chimney, baking bread. What is with trying to paint school bus driving as some special kind of hardship.
If anything it seems easier and more pleasing than the other jobs I mentioned.
You get a ton of time off, all school breaks and summers, and you only have to work for a specific few hours a day. You get a sense of satisfaction getting kids to school and home, you get to see people, talk to some. There is direct feedback and shows you the value of your work. Why does it matter how many tons the bus is? You don't need to lift that.
If you want to make some part time money, driving a school bus seems a lot more fun and more entertaining than a lot of other jobs.
If there is a bus driver shortage then that is because the people that used to drive the school bus (retired and part time workers) don't want to do it anymore. But reasons are not explored or explained at all. Hence we learn nothing of the real reasons that we have a school bus shortage.
In my opinion drivers are afraid of catching COVID from the kids, so it is not a problem that raising the pay would address.