I have to admit that living in Washington, DC, I am awfully spoiled by free access to museums. I recently road tripped to New York to museum hop for the day and was blown away by the cost of what-we-do-in-Washington-when-we-are-broke-but-want-to-do-something! Had it not been for flashing my AAM m'ship card, I would have had to turn away from many of the sites I visited. I have mixed feelings about charging admission b/c it creates a barrier to those who cannot afford the admission price. When I think about museums being an alternative to the declining classroom experience, I am operating under the bias of free access to museums. Few disadvantaged youths will pay to go to a museum, and even if they were let in for free under some "reach out program," pride would be a factor in prohibiting them from taking advantage of such a program. Back to the question in all our minds - how are we going to keep our museums open? I don't have an answer, but I am not sure that charging admission is the answer across the board. Just a thought or two. - Adrienne