Field Trips have gotten so expensive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$29 is cheap, OP. Where on earth were your kids going that only cost 6-10?

In middle school, the music field trip to Bush Gardens costs more than a 100, and in high school, it's more than a 1000 for an overnight trip to various US cities for music competitions.

You've seen nothing yet and you need to accept that your field trip budget will need to be adjusted. OR, that you need to ask for financial help.

But the prices you cite are par for the course.

They are that high as you pay for the chaperones and a private company to arrange it. They could do it much cheaper. Teachers get kickbacks from the tour companies.

There are no tour companies, PP. You're confusing school field trips with private international travel sponsored by a school language teacher. The latter are several thousand dollars and a complete rip-off (but some families still do them because they want their kids to travel and for various reasons, they can't travel as a family).

I chaperoned multiple field trips at Busch Gardens when my kids were in middle school, for their choir and orchestra groups, and I had to pay for my own ticket and was required to ride in the bus.

DP here and you are mistaken. The PP is correct.

Prove it.

https://www.schooltoursofamerica.com/why-travel-with-us

https://www.eftours.com/eliterature/etus/efschoolpoints.pdf

https://www.passports.com/2025 - This one clearly says "Cash and travel rewards for group leaders"

These are NOT elementary trips! The locations include NY, Williamsburg, Philly, etc. I know you think teachers are “getting over” on the public but use common sense!

[Anonymous]

You have to pay for subs to cover the staff members attending. In some schools, if an AP attends, a different staff member has to cover the AP position so now that staff member needs a sub.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$29 is cheap, OP. Where on earth were your kids going that only cost 6-10?

In middle school, the music field trip to Bush Gardens costs more than a 100, and in high school, it's more than a 1000 for an overnight trip to various US cities for music competitions.

You've seen nothing yet and you need to accept that your field trip budget will need to be adjusted. OR, that you need to ask for financial help.

But the prices you cite are par for the course.

They are that high as you pay for the chaperones and a private company to arrange it. They could do it much cheaper. Teachers get kickbacks from the tour companies.

There are no tour companies, PP. You're confusing school field trips with private international travel sponsored by a school language teacher. The latter are several thousand dollars and a complete rip-off (but some families still do them because they want their kids to travel and for various reasons, they can't travel as a family).

I chaperoned multiple field trips at Busch Gardens when my kids were in middle school, for their choir and orchestra groups, and I had to pay for my own ticket and was required to ride in the bus.

DP here and you are mistaken. The PP is correct.

Prove it.

https://www.schooltoursofamerica.com/why-travel-with-us

https://www.eftours.com/eliterature/etus/efschoolpoints.pdf

https://www.passports.com/2025 - This one clearly says "Cash and travel rewards for group leaders"

These are NOT elementary trips! The locations include NY, Williamsburg, Philly, etc. I know you think teachers are “getting over” on the public but use common sense!

+1

These are secondary school trips. Chaperones don’t have to be teachers. Parents could set up and run them. They don’t because it is an insane amount of work. I’ve chaperoned two and they are 14 hour days. I only got a “break” if a student was under the weather and needed to stay at the hotel. We do it because we believe travel is a great education, not because we consider 10 fourteen hour days with twenty adolescents a vacation.

[Anonymous]

You guys have field trips?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$29 is cheap, OP. Where on earth were your kids going that only cost 6-10?

In middle school, the music field trip to Bush Gardens costs more than a 100, and in high school, it's more than a 1000 for an overnight trip to various US cities for music competitions.

You've seen nothing yet and you need to accept that your field trip budget will need to be adjusted. OR, that you need to ask for financial help.

But the prices you cite are par for the course.

They are that high as you pay for the chaperones and a private company to arrange it. They could do it much cheaper. Teachers get kickbacks from the tour companies.

There are no tour companies, PP. You're confusing school field trips with private international travel sponsored by a school language teacher. The latter are several thousand dollars and a complete rip-off (but some families still do them because they want their kids to travel and for various reasons, they can't travel as a family).

I chaperoned multiple field trips at Busch Gardens when my kids were in middle school, for their choir and orchestra groups, and I had to pay for my own ticket and was required to ride in the bus.

DP here and you are mistaken. The PP is correct.

Prove it.

https://www.schooltoursofamerica.com/why-travel-with-us

https://www.eftours.com/eliterature/etus/efschoolpoints.pdf

https://www.passports.com/2025 - This one clearly says "Cash and travel rewards for group leaders"

These are NOT elementary trips! The locations include NY, Williamsburg, Philly, etc. I know you think teachers are “getting over” on the public but use common sense!

+1

These are secondary school trips. Chaperones don’t have to be teachers. Parents could set up and run them. They don’t because it is an insane amount of work. I’ve chaperoned two and they are 14 hour days. I only got a “break” if a student was under the weather and needed to stay at the hotel. We do it because we believe travel is a great education, not because we consider 10 fourteen hour days with twenty adolescents a vacation.

The teachers at our school only allow a few select parents and teachers. Teachers go for free and get perks from the company.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You guys have field trips?

We had maybe one in es and one in hs outside the expensive teacher sponsored trips during the summer and breaks, which we don’t do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Follow the money. They go to the Kid Museum because there is some family connection with a BOE member or MCPS employee who got MCPS to buy into their curriculum.

This. Kid Museum is owned by...? Their business model is...? Ask these questions.

[Anonymous]

MCPS students should be going to Smithsonian museums. Teachers and parents should be chaperoning them. They should travel by metro or private charter buses. I have priced out charter busses from DC to Philadelphia for 40 people and it is quite affordable.

There should be a curriculum that the students cover through the field trip. Students should watch a documentary at school about the exibit and the history or significance of what they will see...before they are taken to the museum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS students should be going to Smithsonian museums. Teachers and parents should be chaperoning them. They should travel by metro or private charter buses. I have priced out charter busses from DC to Philadelphia for 40 people and it is quite affordable.

There should be a curriculum that the students cover through the field trip. Students should watch a documentary at school about the exibit and the history or significance of what they will see...before they are taken to the museum.

Charter buses aren't that affordable in lower income schools. Metro is also pricy and how do the kids get to the metro if the school is not near them. But, yes, its a good field trip. The problem is once they get on the busses its 9-10, it takes 45 minutes to drive there so they have 2-3 hours including lunch before heading back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS students should be going to Smithsonian museums. Teachers and parents should be chaperoning them. They should travel by metro or private charter buses. I have priced out charter busses from DC to Philadelphia for 40 people and it is quite affordable.

There should be a curriculum that the students cover through the field trip. Students should watch a documentary at school about the exibit and the history or significance of what they will see...before they are taken to the museum.

Charter buses aren't that affordable in lower income schools. Metro is also pricy and how do the kids get to the metro if the school is not near them. But, yes, its a good field trip. The problem is once they get on the busses its 9-10, it takes 45 minutes to drive there so they have 2-3 hours including lunch before heading back.

MoCo uses chatter buses all the time. My kids did the industrial museum in Baltimore for in 3rd grade and they used the type of black buses you see in weddings. And it wasn't too pricey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$29 is cheap, OP. Where on earth were your kids going that only cost 6-10?

In middle school, the music field trip to Bush Gardens costs more than a 100, and in high school, it's more than a 1000 for an overnight trip to various US cities for music competitions.

You've seen nothing yet and you need to accept that your field trip budget will need to be adjusted. OR, that you need to ask for financial help.

But the prices you cite are par for the course.

They are that high as you pay for the chaperones and a private company to arrange it. They could do it much cheaper. Teachers get kickbacks from the tour companies.

There are no tour companies, PP. You're confusing school field trips with private international travel sponsored by a school language teacher. The latter are several thousand dollars and a complete rip-off (but some families still do them because they want their kids to travel and for various reasons, they can't travel as a family).

I chaperoned multiple field trips at Busch Gardens when my kids were in middle school, for their choir and orchestra groups, and I had to pay for my own ticket and was required to ride in the bus.

DP here and you are mistaken. The PP is correct.

Prove it.

https://www.schooltoursofamerica.com/why-travel-with-us

https://www.eftours.com/eliterature/etus/efschoolpoints.pdf

https://www.passports.com/2025 - This one clearly says "Cash and travel rewards for group leaders"

Not sure why this is so difficult to get through your skull. These are not school-sponsored trips. These are tours offered by private tour companies that are advertised to middle and high schoolers. They are usually over the summer and teachers can volunteer to chaperone. The school/MCPS does not hire the tour company. The only connection with MCPS is that MCPS allows the companies to advertise to students (via the teacher volunteers). I've always found that kind of weird, but whatever, we've never done one of those trips because our kids do other things over the summer and we've been lucky enough to be able to take them abroad ourselves.

This is NOT AT ALL the same as the Hershey Park trips (for example) that band and choir kids go on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$29 is cheap, OP. Where on earth were your kids going that only cost 6-10?

In middle school, the music field trip to Bush Gardens costs more than a 100, and in high school, it's more than a 1000 for an overnight trip to various US cities for music competitions.

You've seen nothing yet and you need to accept that your field trip budget will need to be adjusted. OR, that you need to ask for financial help.

But the prices you cite are par for the course.

They are that high as you pay for the chaperones and a private company to arrange it. They could do it much cheaper. Teachers get kickbacks from the tour companies.

There are no tour companies, PP. You're confusing school field trips with private international travel sponsored by a school language teacher. The latter are several thousand dollars and a complete rip-off (but some families still do them because they want their kids to travel and for various reasons, they can't travel as a family).

I chaperoned multiple field trips at Busch Gardens when my kids were in middle school, for their choir and orchestra groups, and I had to pay for my own ticket and was required to ride in the bus.

DP here and you are mistaken. The PP is correct.

Prove it.

https://www.schooltoursofamerica.com/why-travel-with-us

https://www.eftours.com/eliterature/etus/efschoolpoints.pdf

https://www.passports.com/2025 - This one clearly says "Cash and travel rewards for group leaders"

These are NOT elementary trips! The locations include NY, Williamsburg, Philly, etc. I know you think teachers are “getting over” on the public but use common sense!

+1

These are secondary school trips. Chaperones don’t have to be teachers. Parents could set up and run them. They don’t because it is an insane amount of work. I’ve chaperoned two and they are 14 hour days. I only got a “break” if a student was under the weather and needed to stay at the hotel. We do it because we believe travel is a great education, not because we consider 10 fourteen hour days with twenty adolescents a vacation.

The teachers at our school only allow a few select parents and teachers. Teachers go for free and get perks from the company.

So, contact the company and set up your own trip staffed by the teachers and parents that no one else wanted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$29 is cheap, OP. Where on earth were your kids going that only cost 6-10?

In middle school, the music field trip to Bush Gardens costs more than a 100, and in high school, it's more than a 1000 for an overnight trip to various US cities for music competitions.

You've seen nothing yet and you need to accept that your field trip budget will need to be adjusted. OR, that you need to ask for financial help.

But the prices you cite are par for the course.

They are that high as you pay for the chaperones and a private company to arrange it. They could do it much cheaper. Teachers get kickbacks from the tour companies.

There are no tour companies, PP. You're confusing school field trips with private international travel sponsored by a school language teacher. The latter are several thousand dollars and a complete rip-off (but some families still do them because they want their kids to travel and for various reasons, they can't travel as a family).

I chaperoned multiple field trips at Busch Gardens when my kids were in middle school, for their choir and orchestra groups, and I had to pay for my own ticket and was required to ride in the bus.

DP here and you are mistaken. The PP is correct.

Prove it.

https://www.schooltoursofamerica.com/why-travel-with-us

https://www.eftours.com/eliterature/etus/efschoolpoints.pdf

https://www.passports.com/2025 - This one clearly says "Cash and travel rewards for group leaders"

Not sure why this is so difficult to get through your skull. These are not school-sponsored trips. These are tours offered by private tour companies that are advertised to middle and high schoolers. They are usually over the summer and teachers can volunteer to chaperone. The school/MCPS does not hire the tour company. The only connection with MCPS is that MCPS allows the companies to advertise to students (via the teacher volunteers). I've always found that kind of weird, but whatever, we've never done one of those trips because our kids do other things over the summer and we've been lucky enough to be able to take them abroad ourselves.

This is NOT AT ALL the same as the Hershey Park trips (for example) that band and choir kids go on.

They are for band and theater so stop with the nasty comments. Both types use the same tour companies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$29 is cheap, OP. Where on earth were your kids going that only cost 6-10?

In middle school, the music field trip to Bush Gardens costs more than a 100, and in high school, it's more than a 1000 for an overnight trip to various US cities for music competitions.

You've seen nothing yet and you need to accept that your field trip budget will need to be adjusted. OR, that you need to ask for financial help.

But the prices you cite are par for the course.

They are that high as you pay for the chaperones and a private company to arrange it. They could do it much cheaper. Teachers get kickbacks from the tour companies.

There are no tour companies, PP. You're confusing school field trips with private international travel sponsored by a school language teacher. The latter are several thousand dollars and a complete rip-off (but some families still do them because they want their kids to travel and for various reasons, they can't travel as a family).

I chaperoned multiple field trips at Busch Gardens when my kids were in middle school, for their choir and orchestra groups, and I had to pay for my own ticket and was required to ride in the bus.

DP here and you are mistaken. The PP is correct.

Prove it.

https://www.schooltoursofamerica.com/why-travel-with-us

https://www.eftours.com/eliterature/etus/efschoolpoints.pdf

https://www.passports.com/2025 - This one clearly says "Cash and travel rewards for group leaders"

These are NOT elementary trips! The locations include NY, Williamsburg, Philly, etc. I know you think teachers are “getting over” on the public but use common sense!

+1

These are secondary school trips. Chaperones don’t have to be teachers. Parents could set up and run them. They don’t because it is an insane amount of work. I’ve chaperoned two and they are 14 hour days. I only got a “break” if a student was under the weather and needed to stay at the hotel. We do it because we believe travel is a great education, not because we consider 10 fourteen hour days with twenty adolescents a vacation.

The teachers at our school only allow a few select parents and teachers. Teachers go for free and get perks from the company.

So, contact the company and set up your own trip staffed by the teachers and parents that no one else wanted.

Offered to help and was told no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$29 is cheap, OP. Where on earth were your kids going that only cost 6-10?

In middle school, the music field trip to Bush Gardens costs more than a 100, and in high school, it's more than a 1000 for an overnight trip to various US cities for music competitions.

You've seen nothing yet and you need to accept that your field trip budget will need to be adjusted. OR, that you need to ask for financial help.

But the prices you cite are par for the course.

They are that high as you pay for the chaperones and a private company to arrange it. They could do it much cheaper. Teachers get kickbacks from the tour companies.

There are no tour companies, PP. You're confusing school field trips with private international travel sponsored by a school language teacher. The latter are several thousand dollars and a complete rip-off (but some families still do them because they want their kids to travel and for various reasons, they can't travel as a family).

I chaperoned multiple field trips at Busch Gardens when my kids were in middle school, for their choir and orchestra groups, and I had to pay for my own ticket and was required to ride in the bus.

DP here and you are mistaken. The PP is correct.

Prove it.

https://www.schooltoursofamerica.com/why-travel-with-us

https://www.eftours.com/eliterature/etus/efschoolpoints.pdf

https://www.passports.com/2025 - This one clearly says "Cash and travel rewards for group leaders"

Not sure why this is so difficult to get through your skull. These are not school-sponsored trips. These are tours offered by private tour companies that are advertised to middle and high schoolers. They are usually over the summer and teachers can volunteer to chaperone. The school/MCPS does not hire the tour company. The only connection with MCPS is that MCPS allows the companies to advertise to students (via the teacher volunteers). I've always found that kind of weird, but whatever, we've never done one of those trips because our kids do other things over the summer and we've been lucky enough to be able to take them abroad ourselves.

This is NOT AT ALL the same as the Hershey Park trips (for example) that band and choir kids go on.

They are for band and theater so stop with the nasty comments. Both types use the same tour companies.

Not the PP but you are missing the point. Teachers don't get "kickbacks" for the band and theater trips. This is different from the Europe/Asia/S. American trips offered through EF Tours and the like that are not school-sponsored and where teachers can get paid to chaperone.