It was a good day for Mike Yane, a history teacher in Huber Heights, Ohio. A December storm covered the modest Dayton suburb in snow, and Wayne High School opened two hours late. His students who walk to class could use the extra time.
Funding shortages last year forced the district to stop providing most buses for the high school, so about 1,600 teenagers have to find their own way and several are frequently late. A 14-year-old told Yane she has to leave her house in the dark and walk an hour to get to class before the bell rings at 7:50 a.m. When students arrive, they share decade-old textbooks that are falling apart and microscopes considered antiques.
