This school is brought to you by: Cola? Sneaker? and Business, schools both win

Abstract:
Eager to build brand loyalty, soft-drink companies are offering school districts big bucks for the exclusive right to advertise and sell their products at schools. This is the new form of fund-raising. The article discusses the mishap between a student in Georgia, that wore a Pepsi shirt during an official coke day. According to a survey conducted by the Center for Commercial-Free Public Education, at least 24 school districts have signed exclusive deals with companies selling soft drinks, sneakers, and telecommunications equipment. The most lucrative contract to date is Coke's 10-year contract with the Colorado Springs schools that pays $8 million. Corporations can support schools in many ways from mentoring programs to ads with no strings attached. It is necessary to be careful to not drown out the school's educational mission in the quest for corporate support. Opposing View: This article discusses corporate sponsorship in education. Both private and public schools have tremendous pressure to increase student performance and enhance educational quality while containing costs. Providing quality education requires adequate funding, but the simple fact is that funding often does not provide the necessary base to achieve high quality. Corporate support in education helps school officials overcome the interrelated issues of cost containment and quality enhancement. Not all corporations involved in education are motivated by the bottom line, some are genuinely concerned about contributing to educational quality. Partnership agreements, where companies share revenue from vending machines sales, ease the pressure on taxpayers and elected representatives to constantly increase funding. When companies are allowed to advertise in ways acceptable to parents, students, teachers, and administrators, there is no loss of academic integrity or compromise of principle. The key is to make the partnership a win-win si

Author(s): DEROSE, Dan

Publication: USA Today


Date Published: 3/27/1998

Pages: 2

Comments:
These articles are found in the Advertising/Commercialism folder.

Location Code: 18086