We had to cancel our end of the year scavenger hunt around the Tidal Basin today. For two years teams of kids visiting the monuments and hunting historical facts has been a fun and popular option for the final week of school, but this year, with a price tag of 25 bucks, only a handful of students signed up for the activity, and we couldn't cover the cost of the charter bus.
Truth be told, it seems ridiculous to pay hundreds of dollars for a ten-mile round trip, but that's a reality in our school system these days. Buses have never been available in the last couple weeks of school, and even when we can schedule them, all trips must be complete by 1 PM. Plus? A few years ago they cut the free transportation allotment to schools, forcing us to charge students even when we are taking a school bus during that narrow time frame. And so here we are, just minutes a way from some of the most famous attractions in the country and the world, places that other people travel miles and miles to visit, and yet it is nearly impossible to take advantage of them educationally.
Some of those funds might have been redirected to our 1:1 personal device initiative. We give all of our students an iPad, and even pay to repair and replace it as many times as necessary. It seems that, as a school system, our priority has shifted from real to virtual-- students are supposed to be able to access the world on the devices we give them-- and so we have virtually given up local reality.
Truth be told, it seems ridiculous to pay hundreds of dollars for a ten-mile round trip, but that's a reality in our school system these days. Buses have never been available in the last couple weeks of school, and even when we can schedule them, all trips must be complete by 1 PM. Plus? A few years ago they cut the free transportation allotment to schools, forcing us to charge students even when we are taking a school bus during that narrow time frame. And so here we are, just minutes a way from some of the most famous attractions in the country and the world, places that other people travel miles and miles to visit, and yet it is nearly impossible to take advantage of them educationally.
Some of those funds might have been redirected to our 1:1 personal device initiative. We give all of our students an iPad, and even pay to repair and replace it as many times as necessary. It seems that, as a school system, our priority has shifted from real to virtual-- students are supposed to be able to access the world on the devices we give them-- and so we have virtually given up local reality.
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