Teacher unleashes perfect payback against school after forced to pay for class trip

School excursions often provide unforgettable experiences and bonding opportunities for students, but for teachers, they can be loaded with logistical headaches. So when a teacher was asked to single-handedly finance a field trip—with zero compensation—Reddit user u/Unfunded_Teacher took to the platform to vent about this bizarre demand.

Representative photo by Pexels | Anny Patterson

“Want me to pay out-of-pocket to take students to the zoo? Okay, but you’ll miss out on a killer photo shoot,” read the title of their Reddit post. In 2017, the teacher oversaw a class of 18 children, and a sudden curriculum change mandated a zoo visit. However, the school insisted that, since the budget had been set months before, the teacher would foot the entire bill for all 18 students.

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Administrators also insisted the teacher snap photos for the school’s Facebook page. With no reimbursement and an empty-handed budget, the teacher came up with a clever alternative: “I love my students but I love my savings too, not as much as my students but still. I couldn’t justify spending over €360 (approx $389) on a single, non-tangible thing. So, I took the kids down to a local farmer, Pete’s farm. All Pete asked for was a 5 euro ($5.46) donation per person and that too was voluntary.”

Representative photo by Pexels | Anastasia Shuraeva

Rather than blowing hundreds at the zoo, the teacher offered around €50 (about $54) to good old Pete, who let the students see an assortment of farm animals. “I gladly emailed the pictures to them, with a subject title of ‘Petting Zoo Pictures’. I got an email back simply saying that my conduct was not exemplary. No reprimand, no written-up warning but no photos for admin too. The kids enjoyed it though,” the teacher wrote. Although the original Reddit post was eventually deleted, commenters remained stunned by the school’s gall.

Image Source: Reddit | u/AmbitiousPirate5159

In the comment section, user u/saraphilipp suggested, “I’d have told them for $400 you can have the photos. You see, my budget was created at the beginning of the year and you’ll have to pay out of pocket for the photographer fees.” Meanwhile, u/GozerDestructor quipped, “You should make the photos look as bleak and Soviet as possible. A cold, grey field, with one sad child holding the tether of a single goat (Use the ugliest child and ugliest goat available).”

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User u/river_song25 didn’t hold back: “I would have told the school flat out hell no. The zoo trip is the school’s idea, not mine, and I won’t be spending my money for myself and 18 kids (and probably some adults since no way am I dealing with 18 kids by myself at the zoo) … Either the school pays or the kids can simply NOT go to the zoo at all, because no way am I spending my money … to pay $360+ in admission tickets fees to the zoo for other people.”

When other commenters doubted the story’s accuracy, user squid52 retorted, “I’m shocked at the number of people who think this is unrealistic. It’s like… have you ever actually listened to a teacher? We all have stories like this… Every single teacher has spent their own money—often a lot—on things that should be provided by the employer. At the same time, having our time stolen by the employer. It’s a big mess.”