Abusive New Berlin School Bus Driver Portrayed as Victim

Milwaukee media decided it was finally time to cover the story of the New Berlin bus driver who said to a child on her bus, "Maybe your mom should have chosen abortion for you."

That bus driver was fired by Durham School Services for her outburst.

Here's a report from FOX6 News:



This report says the bus driver is 81 years old. If that's accurate, the woman has aged three years in about three days. The mother of the harassed child It appears the bus company didn't know her actual age, originally saying she was 78.

I'm surprised that an 81-year-old woman is driving a school bus full of kids, especially someone as clearly unstable as this woman. I don't think it's safe.

In its report, FOX6 names the mother and the boy, Debbie Ann Hartlaub and Joey Hartlaub, and interviews them.

The reporter, Ashley Sears, also spoke to the bus driver by phone. Sears stated the bus driver "said there is a lot of confusion and said everyone is trusting the words of a little boy." Sears said the bus driver "didn't really understand what the uproar was."

TMJ4 also got around to covering the story, from a decidedly sympathetic angle on behalf of the bus driver.

TMJ4 interviewed the driver, noting the police are investigating death threats made to the bus company.

Carol, an 81-year-old bus driver, says the kids she was driving were bullying her about politics. But what she said to one of them was so shocking, the school bus company decided to fire her.

The kids on the bus were Romney supporters, the bus driver supports President Obama. But the fallout from this disturbance has been so heated, police are now investigating death threats.

Police officers are keeping a close eye on the Durham School Service Bus Company. The company started receiving death threats when the story of a blow up between one of their bus drivers and a student hit local talk radio.

The elderly bus driver was too afraid to appear on camera, but she's devastated.

The bus disturbance was between Carol, and Debbie Hartlaub's 12-year-old son. She's been driving him home from Holy Apostle School for the last four years. Hartlaub claims problems started two weeks ago when she put a Romney/Ryan sign on her front lawn.

"It started with him and another student chanting at the back of the bus. They were chanting Romney, Romney -- which is goofy and inappropriate -- but he's 12," says Debbie Hartlaub.

But Carol says the chanting was to taunt her, since the kids know she supports President Obama.

"And they kept it up, and kept it up. And they had other kids doing it too. And it got louder and louder and it just got to the point where I couldn't take this anymore, you know," says Carol.

"They were chanting Romney/Ryan. And as they did, the bus driver had other opinions about it and she decided to talk back," explains the kid's brother Michael Hartlaub.

And then, things got out of hand.

"My son said Obama is pro-abortion. And the bus driver said to him, well too bad your mom didn't choose abortion for you," claims Debbie Hartlaub.

TODAY'S TMJ4's Shelley Walcott: "Are you sorry Carol, that you said what you said to this boy?"

Carol: "Of course I am Shelley. I would have never said that. It's like I didn't have control over it. It was when they got me so upset already."

The bus driver is made out to be the victim in the TMJ4 report.

The poor old lady. She was being taunted by mean kids. She claims she would never say something like that to a child, EXCEPT SHE DID. Her excuse? She "didn't have control over it."

Debbie Hartlaub is made out to be rather cold and uncaring.

Hartlaub alerted the bus company. They fired Carol on Tuesday, after 23 years of service with no previous problems.

Carol is devastated.

TODAY'S TMJ4's Shelley Walcott: "What does this job mean to you?"

Carol: "Everything. It's my livelihood. It's my livelihood, Shelley."

"You know what? My son is my son. I could care less about her bus job being her livelihood," says Debbie Hartlaub.

Police are investigating the death threats made to the bus company. Debbie Hartlaub says she's reported Carol to the Waukesha County Health and Social Services for verbal abuse of a child.

It goes without saying, but I have to say it: Death threats are no way to respond to a situation like this.

I don't really know what TMJ4 means by "death threats made to the bus company." There were no specifics. Were certain employees of the company personally threatened?

Any and all threats should be investigated.

That said, it certainly sounds like TMJ4 is on the bus driver's side.

She was fired for defending herself. Poor Carol. She's devastated. She was harassed. She couldn't take the abuse.

Why did the kids on the bus even know that Carol was an Obama supporter? The bus driver should not be voicing her political opinions to the children. That in itself is inappropriate. I never knew the politics of any of my bus drivers.

I think she deserved to lose her job. A school bus driver should not be engaging in political discussion with the kids on the bus, let alone telling a child his mother should have aborted him.

It's inexcusable to lash out like that to a child in her care. She's the adult. She has to be able to deal with kids chanting "Romney, Romney" without flipping out. If she can't handle it, she's not fit to drive a school bus. She should have been concentrating on her driving and the safety of the children, not getting upset about a Romney yard sign.

If Carol is to be seen as a victim, then she must be considered a victim of her own lack of control and bad behavior.

Here's video of TMJ4's report: