(MintPress)— American public schools, facing years of both federal and state budget cuts and not foreseeing any relief in the near future, are turning to advertising to raise revenues for their schools’ sagging budgets.
But advocacy groups for schools say that the federal government should be stepping up to ensure the country’s educational system is adequately funded, thus easing the burden on administrators to do the double duty of educating students and raising funds to run the schools.
American schools facing tough times financially
School districts, already operating in their fourth consecutive year of budget cuts, do not anticipate returning to pre-recession funding levels for several years, says a survey of school administrators, conducted by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). School administrators are reporting a continuing erosion of fiscal resources available to school districts, as the worst recession in recent history continues to impact state and local budgets, according to a recent study “Weathering the Storm: How the Economic Recession Continues to Impact Schools”.
“The potential threats to economic stability still loom large. Our surveys document how unprecedented fiscal hardship has forced district and school administrators to answer increasingly complex and tough questions over these last years,” said Daniel A. Domenech, AASA executive director.
Highlights from the survey’s findings include that 81.4 percent of districts described their district as inadequately funded, while 71.2 percent of school districts reported a cut in state/local revenues between 2010-11 and 2011-12.
“This survey highlights how the confluence of continued budget cuts, cessation of emergency federal dollars and the very real threat of sequestration could threaten the economic recovery starting to take hold at the state and local level,” Domenech said.
Advertising in American schools?
Schools across America have had to get creative in their approach to solving budget woes.
Ditching the traditional bake sale in favor of allowing advertisers in schools seems to be a concept catching on in more districts across the country.
While advertising in schools is not a completely new concept, having been a part of athletic facilities and school buses for decades, Dax Gonzalez, communications manager for the Texas Association of School Boards, told USA Today that more schools are turning to advertising.
For example, the Twin Rivers Unified School District in McClellan, Calif. recently signed a deal with the Colorado-based Education Funding Partners (EFP), a for-profit corporation, with a goal of bringing $100 million to major public school districts by 2015.
EFP President Mickey Freeman told the paper, “There’s a way to marry large companies and large districts without having to sacrifice morality. The public isn’t paying for public education anymore.”
Kids are increasingly seeing advertisements in school hallways, at sporting events and even on their report cards.
One district, Jefferson County Public School District, southwest of Denver, just signed a three-year deal with college-savings program CollegeInvest to allow the company to advertise on students’ report cards.
And more well-known American companies, like office-supplies retailer Staples and drugstore chain CVS, are jumping on the bandwagon, offering their products and services via advertisements in American k-12 schools.
CVS looked to schools in Florida and Virginia to promote its flu shot campaign on signs at football games, posters throughout schools and in district e-newsletters.
Staples will advertise on school supply lists in California and Texas school districts this fall.
When the Parkland School District in Pennsylvania – after raising taxes almost 4 percent in the district, cutting 60 jobs and freezing teacher pay for the 2012-2013 school year – still found itself facing a budget shortfall, it also turned to advertising.
The district netted $25,000 selling advertising spots in the school newsletter and school calendar and expects to make about $150,000 in the next school year by selling ad space inside some of its school buses.
Critics call on gov’t to step up; some place restrictions on advertising
But the decision whether to allow advertising in schools or not remains controversial in many areas.
Mike Yaple, spokesman with the New Jersey School Boards Association told New Jersey 101.5 recently, “It depends on the district. Some communities don’t want any connection between their schools and advertising. In other communities, people believe their schools should do anything possible to control costs.”
In May, New Jersey schools officials set the ground rules for school bus advertising Yaple said. “School buses can post ads, but they can’t be about gambling, alcohol, tobacco or violence.”
Still, advocacy groups for schools point out that government should step up to solve funding problems and not leave the burden of solving financial problems to the schools themselves.
“The need for sound, reasoned federal policy—both education and fiscal—is greater than ever. AASA’s members—school administrators across the country—lead the nation’s public schools and have delivered a very clear message,” said AASA’s president, Patricia Neudecker. “Congress and the Department of Education must continue to work to ensure schools have the resources they need.”