Should students have to pay to play?

Does your school charge for road trips?

A national school administrators group says it's worried about what it sees as a growing trend of "pay for play" trips that effectively discriminate against the poor -- a trend, it believes, that will only be exacerbated by the country's economic problems.

In a position statement issued Monday, the National Association of Secondary School Principals wrote: "The pay-for-play trend has triggered a legal, philosophical, and educational equity debate. The question centers on whether co-curricular activities are part of the free public school system to which everyone is entitled by law." The activities it has in mind include athletics, music, drama, clubs and so on. The statement says that California is among four states that require that any "school sponsored curricular or co-curricular activity be offered free of charge."

Is anybody seeing otherwise?

-- Mitchell Landsberg

Teacher hits the beach -- and it's work

Wendy Gorton, a teacher at Hancock Park Elementary School in Los Angeles, is traveling this summer on a series of programs. She'll be sharing what she's doing and learning here:

Wendy Gorton, left, takes water quality data in the Bahamas.

It's that time of year where the rest of the world wakes up at 6 a.m., but students and teachers alike lay blissfully in bed until roused naturally; maybe an itch, or to catch "The Price is Right" on TV. While many of us are teaching summer school for extra money, allow me to show you that summertime also beckons with plenty of professional development opportunities.

This summer, I'm a Traveling Teacher, flitting about the world in a series of trips and assignments. I'm currently in the Bahamas on an Earthwatch Research Expedition, will travel to Australia with National Geographic and end my traveling summer as a National Park Ranger at Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah.

Millikan students travel to Beijing for Olympic Cultural Festival

After months of rehearsing, furious fundraising and high anticipation, 45 students from Robert A. Millikan Middle School and Performing Arts Magnet embark today on a once-in-a lifetime trip: performing at the 2008 Olympic Cultural Festival in Beijing.

Students from the Sherman Oaks school will be performing excerpts from their musical theater production of "Ain't Misbehavin,' " as well as ballet, jazz and hip hop dance numbers and musical pieces such as the Pink Panther remix and "Tequila" performed by the school’s jazz band.

Selection of the Millikan students to represent the U.S. is a coup for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

"These students have a unique opportunity to serve as ambassadors for our country, our community and our district while performing for the eyes of the world to enjoy," LAUSD Superintendent David L. Brewer said in a statement.

The group also includes two student violinists from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and a violinist from Harvard Westlake, a private school, who will also perform.

The trip was arranged through the nonprofit Intercultural Educational Exchange Assn., which contacted the LAUSD about potential student performers. Millikan was chosen from a list of performing arts schools and sent copies of some of its production numbers to the Beijing Cultural Committee.

The school received the invitation in January, said assistant principal Leah Bass-Baylis. They then had to figure out how to cover the $3,000 per student costs of the trip.