Speaking as a history teacher, part of the problem is the  
unwillingness, or inability, of schools to use locally available  
resources. I teach US history at the Middle School level in Virginia.  
Scheduling a field trip is a nightmare because of regulations, so we  
don't. You  have to use a bus, so often the cost is prohibitive  
(either for the school or the parents). Also our school district (one  
of the largest in the state) has just made it that much more  
difficult. We only teach history and science for half a year. English  
and math are full year courses, perhaps because they are covered by  
the Federal No Child Left Behind regulations. So the kids I have  
right now in US I (through 1877) are done with history as of 26  
January. There is no time for field trips, I am hard pressed to  
finish the curriculum by the end of the semester, and I also have to  
give the SOL test. For some reason my kids are taking it the 11th. So  
for all intents and purposes, as far as the state is concerned the  
last two weeks of the course don't count.

I'm sure that my students would enjoy Williamsburg. But I have to  
request a trip months in advance. Then I have to get enough other  
teachers involved to fill a bus or buses, because legal restrictions  
prevent me from traveling on anything but a contracted bus. Even if I  
could find enough parents with cars, we can't use them. Many of my  
kids can't afford it and the school system doesn't have the money to  
subsidize everyone.

On the science side as a legacy of litigation, we can't use any  
chemicals much stronger than dishwater. Really neat reactions are  
pretty much confined to videos. The same is true of physics  
experiments. We used to lift up a car as part of simple machines. A  
parent complained that someone might get hurt, now they get to see a  
film. So how do I keep them involved and even more important convince  
them that education is fun? God bless the lawyers for making it that  
much more difficult. And the school districts for adopting one size  
fits all and zero tolerance as a guideline.

James Brothers, RPA
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On Jan 5, 2007, at 10:19, Tim Baumann wrote:

>
> NY Times article on the selling of Carter's Grove by Colonial  
> Williamsburg
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/us/31preserve.html?pagewanted=print