Cash-strapped schools turn to advertising
I rarely predict the future correctly, as the Sony Rolly on my bedside bureau will attest, but in my opinion school buses will soon be riddled with more ads than Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s NASCAR ride.
If a statue of Robert E. Lee at a public school is OK, why not an advertisement for a commercial product? (AP Photo of Lee High School in Montgomery, Ala.)
Cash-strapped public schools in the Dallas area are already plastering posters on buses and buildings. If it works there, it will be here before you can correctly recall the subtleties of long division.
So far, ads for banks, dentists and real estate have popped up.
Plenty of folks are alarmed, according to the Dallas Morning News.
School officials say they need new sources of funding due to state budget cuts.
“Under the current finances, I don’t think you can shy away from anything,” said Allen Independent School District spokesman Tim Carroll. “There’s a place for it when it can be done tastefully, especially in the context of a sporting venue. It’s not like we’re bringing in Hooters.”
I’m not sure how I feel about ads in schools. Anything that lowers the tax burden on those who don’t have kids in school would be a bonus in my book, but I fear school districts will simply find a way to spend more. As anyone who has ever covered government will tell you, spending has less to do with need than with preserving funding levels in next year’s budget.
Like the aforementioned Mr. Carroll, I think ads in schools can peacefully co-exist with young minds. Growing up, I seem to recall a number of ads on the Little League outfield wall, and even on my uniform, but I still managed to learn how to have an ERA higher than my shoe size.
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14 comments Add your comment
K-Ster
April 3rd, 2012
9:25 am
I don’t want schools to seek additional funds via this ad thingy! I also don’t want to pay more in taxes. I want magical money! I am a normal American’t.
bmak98
April 3rd, 2012
9:43 am
Bring on the ads. Money is money. No alcohol, cigs, or sleazy pics. If the money is truely used for education and not to line the gvmt leaders pockets and if it saves teacher jobs I vote to go for it. I remember a school that was near a major airport that put advertising on its roof so the people on the planes could see it.
gadem
April 3rd, 2012
9:57 am
I think that it is a creative idea and a great idea…
The problem that I see is that states are cutting funding to education. Education opens so many doors for so many people. Education is important. Other countries are investing money in education while we invest money in bombs.
Oh well….
Chris
April 3rd, 2012
9:57 am
School districts will find means to spend the extra money and put themselves back in the same predicament they are in now. There is enough money in most of our school systems, we must cut back on waste. Counties purchasing expensive furniture, meaningless technology, over staffing, etc are the causes of our educational crises. Our issue is the higher leadership and school boards that have put us here.
Tom
April 3rd, 2012
10:12 am
We’re funding education, in part, by the means of a lottery… despite good evidence that it has negative effects on the poor. (Addendum: it’s still a choice by individuals to play the lottery so I’m not excusing those who choose to wager their food money on a scratch-off ticket).
With that in mind, I don’t see how anyone who supports the lottery (or the idea of a lottery) can be opposed to advertising at schools or on school properties.
Greg Mendel
April 3rd, 2012
10:28 am
I think it’s a great idea and a good beginning. Advertising in textbooks is the next logical step. Tattooing ads on teachers will soon follow.
Henry Halloran
April 3rd, 2012
12:00 pm
This isnt a big issue. Anyone that was in school in the 90’s, do you remember Channel One? That was basically one big Pepsi advertisement every morning.
the guy
April 3rd, 2012
12:11 pm
How do public school systems spend more per capita on its students than private schools and still manage to pi$$ it all away?
historydawg
April 3rd, 2012
12:35 pm
the guy, Much of the money is spent justifying the system to those politicians who are warring against public education. Much of the money is spent on special education in which a few students need 50X the amount of attention and money as regular education students. These students are, of course, not accepted into private schools. but, as Americans, we have historically embraced the idea that all are worth investment, until today’s republicans. What makes our public education the model to which the entire world is looking (e.g., Finland) is the principle which makes it so costly, though still not as costly as our “investment” overseas.
MR164
April 3rd, 2012
1:15 pm
@K-Ster I see I see what you did there. Very nice…..