Teacher Stipends and Bonuses for Educational Student Tours

I need some clarification, opinions, and experiences.

Quite frankly, I’m a bit frustrated and confused.

It's a question of ethics.

For the past several years, I have been designing, selling, and conducting educational student tour programs throughout the East Coast of the United States. Most of my schools are from the west coast and southwest. It’s been a very good season and the trips went well. Happily all my schools have rebooked for either 2008 or 2009. And now it is time to plan for the next spring season.

My frustration is with the concept of teacher stipends, bonuses, points, personal travel benefits, and other 'considerations' offered by the larger tour companies as well as the teachers who use them as leverage for their custom. To be specific: Student tour companies are bribing teachers for their business and teachers are now expecting these bribes.

I had been under the impression that public school teachers as public employees/servants were not permitted by law to accept these types of ‘gifts’ or become subcontractors of private companies that had anything to do with their public position; it seemed to me a conflict of interest, a lapse of fiduciary responsibility, and an abuse of one’s position for personal gain.

However, I was being a bit naïve, for over 80% of the teachers who had expressed interest in my programs asked about the rewards and benefits. Several, who did want to travel with me, after having been informed by me that I offer only a free trip and bona fide reimbursable expenses, changed their minds despite the fact that they preferred my program,. These teachers either returned to the company that they were unhappy with or found another company that would match or exceed their expectations.

Large student tour operators are luring teachers with all sorts of weekend ‘seminars’, early sign-up bonuses, 'scholarship' money, bonuses for three-year contracts, weekends in Costa Rica and California, as well as foreign travel. The companies are in such tight competition that teachers are using one against the other. It's become a feeding frenzy!

Some companies are bold enough to list these perks on their websites, unaware that this is an illegal practice. (If it's advertised, how could it be illegal?) One company explains that they hire teachers (to act as a tour guide for their own class) and that three-year contracts help with the cohesiveness of the programs. Most companies I have spoken with admit that they know it is wrong, but everyone is doing it!

The three-year contract is especially problematic as it binds not only the current grade/class, but it also binds the next grade as well as students who are not even enrolled in the school! Thus an 8^th grade teacher also contracts for the 7^th and 6^th grades. (Those sixth-graders might come from several feeder schools.) Therefore the parents or school district have no choice of tour provider or program. But it gets even ickier when the teacher leaves or changes schools; the incoming teacher is expected to work with that company or the company puts pressure on the teacher and school! In my opinion these multi-year contracts should be unlawful, and unenforceable. (There are no real benefits to the travel program content or price for a multi-year contract, it only benefits the company and the teacher/administrator who is getting the kick-back.)

There should be a bidding system, not just for price and service, but for real educational content.

After talking this over with the companies that contract me, we felt that these practices were corrupt and led to more corruption. We would not condone nor participate in such practices. It was not surprising to me that I found that every state in the US and province in Canada had the same law and interpretation pertaining to public employees. Ohio had the most concise explanation; (Ohio Ethics Commission Advisory Opinion 2000-04) I can only surmise that it had become a problem in that state as they were specifically targeting the Washington, DC trips.

Typically these trips are well over $1000. Several of my trips because of of the high cost of airfare from some cities on the west coast, the quality of hotels requested, and length of the trip, are over $2000. It’s easy to hide a couple of hundred dollars from such a large pricetag. Parents and school boards have no real idea how the money is distributed; they trust the teacher/administrator/organizer, who is usually the one who chooses the company, to give them the best value and content for the students.

But sadly, these organizers are not trustworthy. Some teachers/administrators expect at least $50 per student, but the majority are well over the $100-$400 mark. That doesn’t include the vacation weekends, early sign-up contract bonuses, commissions for finding new schools that will travel, or other personal requests. Some ask for 'scholarship money' and it is up to their discretion how they will use it. Again, a 1099 is sent to the teacher./organizer. ( In reality, if there is to be money factored into the price of the trip for scholarships, it should go to the school and not to the teacher.)

If the school board, administration, and parents feel that the teacher should be compensated, then that compensation should be upfront and go through the school district and not a private company.

One high school teacher in LA has become a real entrepreneur by incorporating himself and branching out by recruiting the middle schools in his area to travel under his auspices. . He teaches in an affluent area and so the parents don’t question the program; they have no idea how he cuts the education and just dazzles them with good hotels and front row seats for the Broadway musical. He never tells the parents that he doesn’t purchase tickets to Colonial Williamsburg, but simply gives his students two hours to walk up and down Duke of Gloucester Street to shop and take photos. (No wonder his students think Williamsburg is boring, they neither get an educational tour nor the evening programs!) While the students do have fun, the experience is not as full or challenging as it could be.

Another teacher of a prestigious private school has been running trips for years and told me he receives the equivalent of more than half his teaching salary for running his ‘blitzkrieg’ trip! A school administrator of a very large private school is getting $100,000 for running all his trips (several grades) through the same company.

And even faith-based schools are not exempt from giving into temptation. A Pastor who was the principal of a parochial school was getting a substantial sum and other 'considerations' for his yearly 8-day convoy of multiple buses, which included several schools combined. In fact, one very large, purportedly Christian tour company , sends a former Lutheran principal around to sell the program to Lutheran schools; he has been known to offer a great deal of money and incentives to get the business! These trips should be a ministry, instead it has become reminiscent of dove sellers and moneychangers.

These teachers/administrators all had the same mantra: The parents don't care, they just write the checks! While these are private schools and not subject to public law, isn’t there still something wrong here?

Where do the companies get the money for all these payoffs? It comes from cutting the quality of the program. or inflating the price. It’s as simple as that. I've worked in these offices, I know.; it's the major reason I'm now an independent contractor.

These payoffs and incentives are sub-rosa. Parents do not realize that under-the-table arrangements have been made with the teachers or administrators. Those who receive1099's become subcontractors of that tour company. Isn’t that a blatant conflict of interest?

In the meantime, parents are fundraising, taking out loans, and even second jobs so their children can take this trip. They are expecting the best value for a truly educational trip and instead are being deceived and cheated. I wonder how parents would react if they found out that the teacher or administrator was putting a percentage of their money into his/her pocket?

It has also been detrimental to the integrity of the student tour industry. Some smaller companies who are working within the law and best practices, cannot compete with the larger companies and have been forced out of business; others have chosen to engage in these practices in order to stay in business.

In an era where we are holding our public officials to the highest ethical standards, why are we not doing the same with our public school teachers and administrators? We shouldn’t accept anyone taking bribes and payoffs in exchange for a contract.

It is also just as illegal for a company to offer these incentives to public employees as it is for public employees to accept them.

And it doesn't matter whether this is on or off school time according to the law, it's considered an abuse of position.

Epilogue:

One of the teachers I had worked with when I was a tour guide with one of the large companies is a social studies and civics teacher who wanted a more educational and customized program. He was delighted when I contacted him and we eventually met in California for dinner. He was extremely unhappy with his present company because of the increasingly poor quality of service, staff, hotels, and there wasn't any added educational content to the sightseeing. After custom designing a trip for him that included the overnight Civil War camp, (which he had wanted but had been denied by the other company) and having him write to me that he loved the program and was ready to travel with me, he then asked about his ‘cut’ and made several additional demands. That’s when I told him about my talk with the companies I represented as well as his state's law. Here is his justification and rationalization:

I am also sorry to say, as you may have suspected, that

I will not be able to travel with your new company in 2006.

This saddens me greatly because I was looking forward to

traveling with you again. If the situation ever changes, please

do not hesitate to call me. Perhaps a "cap" on stipends would

be more realistic way of dealing with the unpleasant situation.

I can't think of anyone who is in education to get rich (if they are

they're fools) but giving up a week of vacation each year and being

responsible for scores of teens for a week requires a decent and

dependable level of compensation, There's no such thing as a free lunch.
.
It's shameful; I thought that he had planned these trips for the benefit of his students.

For another article on Student Tour Company Ethics please click here.
Music teachers and band directors are also under scrutiny as exposed in Strings

Educational Student Tour Company Ethics - Caveat Emptor

Looking for a student tour company? Read this first.


If you've stumbled upon this, you might be seriously looking for a tour company for your school or class. Perhaps you have never traveled, or perhaps you've been dissatisfied. In any case, I would suggest that you read this over first before you contract a company so you understand the differences amongst the types of company and services. The second part concerns ethics and honesty.

There are three types of tour providers for students: Educational Student Tours, Student Tour Operators, Travel Agencies.

Student tour operators, whether they have 'educational' or 'academic' in their name are mostly in business to move students. The educational content comes from either the teacher or through the process of osmosis at the sights themselves. Very often there is no 24-hour guide dedicated to the group introducing the sights or providing running commentary on the bus rides. In major cities, a step-on city guide is provided for about 4-6 hours. Teachers are provided with tickets, checks and coupons and normally need to find their own way to places. The itinerary is a standard one and generally there are several groups from that operator following the same itinerary , staying in the same hotel, and eating at the same restaurants. This has been the choice with teachers who simply want a package and let the company run the sightseeing program.

Travel agencies provide an escort to pay bills, follow a standard itinerary, and pick up city guides for four-six hours to give a city tour. They give more service and might even find some interesting restaurants etc., but tend to know less about the areas logistics, and educational content.

Educational student tour companies are full service and help the teacher/organizer plan the trip according to the school's curriculum, standards, teaching plan, and objectives. They contract fully-qualified educational tour guides who stay with the group for the entire program (including the hotel) and are responsible for educational content as well as the logistics etc. in the field. No two programs are alike. They needn't cost more than the large companies because they typically don't have the high profit margins required by the venture capitalists who own them, but they give better value. The travel agencies' quality does vary according to the expertise of the agent and the type of hotel etc.

Naturally, I am a passionate advocate of full-service educational student tours.

In 1981, I joined one of the pioneers of educational student travel. It was a company called Educational Field Studies and it was started by educators who thought that most student field trips were just sightseeing excursions and they wanted to raise the bar.

During those years we all strove to include as much educational content as possible without losing the 'fun factor'. Various teachers I worked with required specialized programs that reflected their respective teaching plans and objectives. We were the first company to get accreditation. And the owners of the company initiated and helped push through a bill in California to protect student travelers from unscrupulous tour operators and travel agencies.

Unfortunately, the days of educational content-driven travel programs almost came to an end with the sale of Educational Field Studies upon the retirement of the owners as well as several smaller companies that went out of business as a direct result of September 11th.

The larger student tour conglomerates now rule the industry and provide generic itineraries and perfunctory sightseeing packages under the guise of 'education'. These are simply student tours.

If you haven't traveled with a fully qualified 24-hour teacher/guide (not an escort and city step-on guides) throughout your entire trip, if you are not offered hands-on activities or special programs for your group, if alternate venues that enhance or complement your teaching plan are not suggested, and if simple requests are either too difficult to arrange or denied, then it is not a truly educationally-based company.

When school groups started to travel after September 11th, most of them were much smaller and had to combine with other schools in order to be able to afford to travel. Many of the teachers who were accustomed to the 'normal' student tours were combined with the groups that had always been with the full-service company. The difference in the quality and educational content was astounding to them and afterwards they requested the 24-hour guides etc. Unfortunately, the company was phasing out the 24-hour guides and would not honor their requests.

Additionally, many of the salespeople for the large companies and agencies are ignorant about history, curricula, and standards. One of my Principals recently contacted such a company to run a literary tour in California centered around John Steinbeck. The salesperson who had been with that company for over ten years and lived in California , asked, "Who's Steinbeck?", and proceeded to send three 'custom' sightseeing itineraries of San Francisco and Marine Science in Monterey. (I have since designed a three day trip for him.) Another teacher I had worked with was shopping around for companies, as she always does each year to see what is in the marketplace (always a good idea). She requested a 'Marquis de Lafayette' as a dinner guest and two salespeople from different companies did not know who he was! One did get back to her and said that they couldn't do it! She is back with me, and this will be our fourth year together and yes, she will have Lafayette as a dinner guest. (I never take my clients for granted!) Try asking salespeople what specific educational programs and sites are available through their respective companies to illustrate the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 or the Industrial Revolution , and wait for the response!

Incredibly, several tour companies run their operation like a sleazy car dealership: They lure you into a trip with a very cheap pricetag and during the course of the planning, one finds the price rising with each component one thought was included. Some also require you to tip the escort and driver. (Full service companies include all the tips etc. and the gratuity is completely discretionary.) Some of these companies raise the price a month or two before the trip and use the airlines or fuel surcharges as an excuse! (A good company understands the trends and includes that in the initial proposal.) Some companies make promises they cannot or will not keep and there are unpleasant 'surprises' the minute one arrives at the airport because they put too much into the itinerary so it will look good; the itineraries are logistically impossible or impractical, and several sights are dropped or canceled in the field as a result. Some itineraries don't include inside visits that needed appointments beforehand which were not communicated to the teacher; hence, one gets to see Daniel's Story when one really wanted to see the permanent exhibit at the National Holocaust Memorial Museum.

And then there is the ugliness concerning teachers being bribed by student tour companies to travel with them which deprives students of a more robust program because of the amount of money going into the teacher's pockets.

The teacher/organizer should be in absolute control of the program content, not the company. Set a budget and have the company work with you to design a tour around it. Ask lots of questions. Prioritize. Be sure to pin the company down concerning names and locations of hotels and restaurants within a month of booking your trip, not two weeks before the trip! Make sure your lunches are not 'appointments' that limit flexibility in the schedule should there be an added appointment to a site i.e. Capitol or unforeseen situations.. (I prefer giving out cash or arranging for box picnic lunches.)

The company ought to provide a representative to meet with parents at the school to discuss the trip in detail and answer technical questions.

Remember the organizer is held responsible by the school district, administration, parents, and students for the success of the trip. It is your responsibility to be able to answer all questions regarding the trip well before you travel.

I would strongly suggest that one not depend solely on the company's or school district's insurance, but take out a modest group policy for the students that all must purchase. Travelex and Travelguard are the two best companies for this. Companies should not be self-insuring, which is illegal in most places. Many companies have merely a 'fund' and the coverage is arbitrarily decided; normally it doesn't include pre-existing conditions; emergency evacuation; airline delay and cancellation; missed day and sights due to airline delays; lost luggage; nor has a terrorism clause. Read the fine print. Whenever I see a group sleeping in an airport terminal, I know that the company did not protect the group and/or the group did not take out travel insurance. None of my groups have ever slept in an airline terminal despite cancellations due to weather etc.

There are a couple of companies that do offer custom educational programs and will work with you to design a truly responsive program. The salespeople are educators and travel professionals that keep abreast of curriculum-based programs at various museums and other sites, They contract people like me who are dedicated to creating unique cutting edge experiences. It takes a bit of research and the right questions to find the right company, but it is well worth the effort.