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Monday, September 29, 2008
Are field trips in jeopardy?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fulton County schools has discontinued field trips to save money because of rising fuel costs and state budget cuts. (PTAs and local schools can use money from their own budgets to pay for them if they want.)
Other school districts have scaled back on field trips. Many schools say trips must be tied to what students are learning, so classes studying Georgia may still visit the Capitol.
More schools are turning to virtual field trips, which let students visit museums, farms and other adventures through the Internet. Principals and PTAs also hire presenters and performing artists to come to campus rather than putting students on a bus to travel to them.
While virtual trips and guest presenters give kids information, they don’t provide students with the experience of going somewhere new or special.
So, the Georgia Aquarium is trying to raise $65,000 to cover the fuel costs to get about 13,000 Title I students from Fulton to the popular attraction.
What do you think of field trips? Are they expendable?
