At a news conference today, the Hawaii School Bus Association (HSBA) kicked off the Students First...Save Our School Buses Campaign.

"When the Board of Education (BOE) announced Friday, December 4, 2009 that it would eliminate the statewide school bus service for over 40,000 students statewide before April 1, 2010, we knew we had to step up to the plate and take immediate action," said Shawn Ching, coalition spokesperson and a local attorney.

Student education and the services vital to that mission should be the last place to try and balance our State budget, said Lee Gomes, President of HSBA.