Field Trips have gotten so expensive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 3rd grader is going to Kid Museum, and it's costing us $29. Over the years, it's been $6-10. We live in an area with free museums, why not go there? They also used to let chaperones go for free, and now they have to pay, even when it's just a bus ride to a Smithsonian. What if next year it's $50, or $100, where do they draw the line? Of course we all want our kids to go and not be excluded or need to ask the PTA for financial help, but is it impossible to pick something affordable?

I am old but in 1976 my School did field trips that were usually $30 to $40 dollars. I did not go. But 99 percent of people went. I went to school on Long Island. They rent a charter bus with bathroom. I recall one year went to see the Grease Play on Broadway, another time Madam Butterfly at Met Opera House. Once they did a sightseeing tour of manhattan, got sugar cane Spanish Harlem, saw sights then lunch in Little Italy.

I sat in studyhall when they went. However, PTA felt bad for us and I did see Madam Butterfly which was cool.

$29 dollars in 2026 you think is a lot? Are you joking.

[Anonymous]

I teach K in Silver Spring. To answer OP's question, field trips are so expensive because of the buses. A DC trip is difficult to get in with MCPS buses because of the time constraints, but it's doable. We've done a trip to see the monuments, but the museums are more difficult for logistics. A trip to the zoo is also doable, but the zoo charges $100 per bus for parking, and that's on top of the MCPS fee for gas and a driver. The costs add up. We basically do not take any field trips that require students to pay for anything more than the buses.

In defense of Kid Museum, they offer scholarships to Title I and Focus schools, and are approved for Community School funds. Last year, every grade K-5 in my school had a low cost field trip there thanks to those funds, the scholarship, and PTA funds. It was under $10 a kid, and it was by far the best field trip. It's popular for a reason. $29 sounds high, but from my experience, it's worth it. It's safe, every kid had a blast, there's plenty to do, and kids can move about to what they're interested in. Even our "behavior" students flourished on that trip.

We've looked into trips like Imagination Stage or any kind of theatre performance, and the ticket cost kills the idea every time. Same with most local farms nowadays. The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore offered a scholarship one year, but we had to use a charter bus which drove the cost up. We still went, but it was a tough sell. Unless the entry is free, we can't do it.