The largest school district in the region could consider bringing back mandatory driver's education.Conversations are swirling in the Cincinnati Public School district following a traffic blitz by the Cincinnati Police Department. "A little more than 30 percent of the people who were cited didn't even have a driver's license," said Cincinnati City Councilman Mark Jeffreys. "I think it was 34 percent. It's mind-blowing."CPD stopped 101 drivers without a valid license during the two-week blitz."For a lot of kids, they can't afford the 400 or 500 dollars that it costs to do in car education," Jeffreys said. He is one of the driving forces behind the idea."We don't control CPS. It is a separate organization. I think the role that we can play is convener. It's an issue that affects all of us here in the city," he said, adding that he has been talking with several leaders within the school district.Michael Belcuore manages AAA's driver education program out of the Hyde Park office. He has been helping students drivers learn to navigate the roads for almost a decade."The kids now take the class online and then come to us for the eight hours of in-car that's required," he said. He said most schools got rid of their driver's ed programs due to risk and cost."It's a money thing. It's expensive. It's expensive to run that. It's a liability thing," he said. "You hear schools talk all the time about wanting to go back to it."He said he was both surprised and not surprised to hear Cincinnati Public Schools may consider trying to go back to how things used to be, requiring driver's education in its high schools for the first time in at least two decades. "In a lot of the schools, a kid being able to realistically get their license can be a life changer," Belcuore said. "Absolutely, I understand why they're looking at it."A CPS spokesman said there is a joint school board and city council meeting at Woodward Career Technical High School Nov. 10. The spokesman expects pedestrian safety issues and driver's education to be brought up during community discussion.
The largest school district in the region could consider bringing back mandatory driver's education.
Conversations are swirling in the Cincinnati Public School district following a traffic blitz by the Cincinnati Police Department.
"A little more than 30 percent of the people who were cited didn't even have a driver's license," said Cincinnati City Councilman Mark Jeffreys. "I think it was 34 percent. It's mind-blowing."
CPD stopped 101 drivers without a valid license during the two-week blitz.
"For a lot of kids, they can't afford the 400 or 500 dollars that it costs to do in car education," Jeffreys said.
He is one of the driving forces behind the idea.
"We don't control CPS. It is a separate organization. I think the role that we can play is convener. It's an issue that affects all of us here in the city," he said, adding that he has been talking with several leaders within the school district.
Michael Belcuore manages AAA's driver education program out of the Hyde Park office. He has been helping students drivers learn to navigate the roads for almost a decade.
"The kids now take the class online and then come to us for the eight hours of in-car that's required," he said.
He said most schools got rid of their driver's ed programs due to risk and cost.
"It's a money thing. It's expensive. It's expensive to run that. It's a liability thing," he said. "You hear schools talk all the time about wanting to go back to it."
He said he was both surprised and not surprised to hear Cincinnati Public Schools may consider trying to go back to how things used to be, requiring driver's education in its high schools for the first time in at least two decades.
"In a lot of the schools, a kid being able to realistically get their license can be a life changer," Belcuore said. "Absolutely, I understand why they're looking at it."
A CPS spokesman said there is a joint school board and city council meeting at Woodward Career Technical High School Nov. 10. The spokesman expects pedestrian safety issues and driver's education to be brought up during community discussion.
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