In his first year on the job, he toted students around on a 25-year-old bus. The next year, he had a 10-year-old bus.

Asked what it's like to drive a new school bus, he quipped, "I wouldn't know."

But the 10-year-old bus was a dream come true.

"When I was assigned that bus, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven," he said.

It's a daily frustration for drivers like Merryman who have to use aging buses to get students to school safely. South Carolina has the oldest buses in the nation, and the only state-run bus system in the country.

The need for newer buses has become so acute that earlier this summer, state education officials bought 73 used buses from a Kentucky school district. They are looking to make a similar purchase later this year in Florida.

No one takes responsibility for the situation. Education officials blame the Legislature, and lawmakers blame the education department for the state's old bus fleet.

The most recent legislative audit of the state's school bus operation happened four years ago, and auditors found problems with how education leaders buy buses.

Lawmakers appropriate millions each year for new buses, but provisions in the state budget permit the education department to spend the money elsewhere.

Technical language in the legislation allows the money to pay for bus repairs, parts or fuel. Few dollars actually go toward new buses.

Officials agree on that point, but disagree about how the money should be spent. Education leaders say they have to spend that money to keep their system in the black, but lawmakers want that money to go toward new buses.

Education officials argue that lawmakers inadequately fund the transportation department. The department needs more money than it gets to keep up with skyrocketing fuel costs and replacing old buses, said John Cooley, deputy superintendent for the education department's Division of Finance and Operations.

Much of the money designated for new buses is used to cover operating expenses. For this fiscal year, the Legislature put $9.4 million in the department's operating account. That money has to pay for fuel, supplies and parts, insurance for students to ride buses and contracts with non-state mechanics to repair the vehicles.

Education officials say they need five times as much to cover those costs. Fuel alone is expected to cost $23.7 million.

"I guess it looks better to them to give us more money for buses instead of to give money for the operating system," Cooley said.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell, the former lead budget writer, said that's an unfair assessment. He said the department's budget request "borders on irresponsible" because officials often ask for more than is available. It makes it hard to determine the priorities, he said. "They get so much more money every year," Harrell said. "Their spending is out of control."

This year, the General Assembly provided more than $26 million for new buses, but only $3 million absolutely must go toward school bus purchases.

Even that could change. If fuel costs continue to rise and creates a budget shortfall, education leaders could request that the $3 million is used to pay those bills.

Rep. Ronnie Townsend, the education committee chairman, understands the need for the department to have discretion in its spending, but he questioned the used bus purchase. Next budget year, more questions will be asked about where the money is really going to go, he said.

"It's hard to budget for what the fuel costs are going to be a year away," Townsend said. "But I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on these issues."

One area education leaders try to reserve exclusively for buses is the yearly lottery appropriation.

Lottery money given to the education department for transportation can be spent in two areas, bus purchases and bus repairs. Lottery money most often goes toward repairs because the department can't cover those costs in its operating budget.

The department also is coming off four consecutive years of budget cuts. Those cuts had to be made somewhere, and school transportation was one of the targets, said Betsy Carpentier, the education department's deputy superintendent for transportation.

"We keep the buses on the road and keep them patched together as best we can," she said.

The Governor's Office thinks the education department can do better. A spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford criticized how the department spent its money, saying more should have gone to new buses.

Earlier this year, Sanford advocated privatizing the state's bus fleet to save money. A commission reported in January 2005 that a private company likely could run the operations for less money.

Brian Moody, a Charleston County School District board member who chaired the commission, said buying used buses from Kentucky is the wrong strategy.

"This state is woefully in need of new buses because we are spending too much maintenance for the old ones," he said. "I think those used buses are still going to put a drain on the resources."

Until South Carolina comes up with a solution, school bus drivers like Merryman will continue driving aging buses. He'll continue hoping that the state will find a way to buy newer buses.

"It would improve drivers' morale," he said. "The newer the bus, the more respect the kids have for the machinery. It's frustrating -- they keep breaking down."