Actually, with school bus drivers specifically, the wages aren't that bad (at least here in the DMV)-- the problem is that it's not 8 full hours of work each day (and the job kinda sucks)

Yes. The schedule is not very good. It tends to attract retirees. Many municipalities struggle to fully staff so they combine routes and then kids are on the bus for a long time and they have crazy pickup times. Unconnected neighborhoods force longer routes on account of cul-de-sacs

Middle school gets home after the elementary school in our area.

Yeah the job really relies on the state to subsidize it, ie medicare and social security. But as older people have become less willing to take on these jobs, they haven’t found another sustainable wage model.

Even if the job kinda sucks, people are willing to do it when the compensation is high enough 🤷🏻‍♀️

And you get to be on the news when the kids in the back go nuts.