Seattle Press on Line - School Board to Vote on Commercials in Schools

Teacher Ted

School Board to Vote on Commercials in Schools

By Ted Lockery

Oct 25, 2001 -- After five years of public testimony, broken promises, committee reviews and re-reviews, and finally some honest debate and wordsmithing, it appears the Seattle School Board is poised to institute a district-wide policy on advertising and commercial activity in Seattle Public Schools. Or is it?

The latest version of the School Board's Policy on Advertising and Commercial Activities, still under construction within the Policy and Legislative Committee, would have us believe that board members themselves were signing petitions of the Citizens' Campaign for Commercial-Free Schools (CCCS). Listen to this: "It is the policy of the Seattle School Board to prohibit commercial advertising targeted at children."

Whoo-hoo!

It then goes on, "Corporate support that protects the welfare of children and the integrity of the learning environment is permitted, provided it is in accordance with the accompanying Board procedure."

Doh!

Well, okay. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions here. They said "corporate support," not "corporate advertising." Let's read on...

"Students shall not be required to observe, listen to or read commercial advertising in the school building," except in the course of study, and in newspapers, television, and the internet when used as educational tools. These exceptions do not include advertising on Channel One, which would be phased out should this version of the proposed policy pass at the November 7 School Board Meeting.

It would appear the School Board (Nancy Waldman and Michael Preston in particular), has heard the voices of the people (including CCCS and the Seattle Education Association), and have found the courage to take a defiant stand against corporate advertising in schools. Reading further, such a district-wide policy would ban corporate advertising from scoreboards, reader boards, buildings, or District athletic fields. It would also prohibit Internet providers and their clients from collecting personal data through Internet use or marketing surveys. Bravo!

Now for the coup de grace: Section C, Paragraph 1 reads, "Logos will not be permitted for display in school hallways or classrooms for the purpose of advertising to students." It outlines the criteria for judging whether a logo's intent is primarily that of identification or advertising as size, location, and "the attention drawn to the logo compared with its intended use of the material." Say goodbye to those hideously contoured, backlit billboards known as "Coke machines"!

Not so fast.

What I neglected to mention was that, buried in Section C, Paragraph 1 was the Achilles' heel: a caveat that "school-based personnel shall be the primary decision-makers in the schools regarding whether a logo is for identification or advertising purposes." Instead of taking a district-wide stand against corporate influence, this passes the buck to some undefined entity (Principal? Site Council? Building Leadership Team? Faculty?), whose would then be put in the position of playing the judge, the jury, and the accused, all in one. They would be required to interpret the "law" of the policy, decide whether a logo, such as a Coke machine, is "guilty" of advertising, and at the same time try to be impartial to the fact that such a verdict would result in the school's loss of revenue.

This scenario is slightly less hypothetical. Central Administrator Steve Nielsen has reported to the School Board that the Coca-Cola Corporation would be willing and able to exchange the current Coke machine facades with ones that are more "neutral." Coke did happen to mention, though, that schools that have done this have noticed a marked drop in sales, and that a significant reduction in on-site consumption might require that Coca-Cola renegotiate the contract they currently have with the District. There is also the very real possibility that members of the Board will attempt to have Coke machines (and Channel One), exempted from the final draft of the Advertising Policy.

The Seattle School Board has come a long way in the last five years, much to its credit and that of its critics. It is critical, however, that board members hear from us--that they understand the importance of establishing tough limitations on advertising and commercialism in our schools (many of which they have proposed), that really are district-wide, clear, non-negotiable, and free from loopholes.

The Seattle School Board will vote on the Policy on Advertising and Commercial Activity on Wednesday, November 7, at 7:00 p.m. Board members can be reached by calling (206) 298-7040.

The CCCS website is www.scn.org/cccs.

Reader Comments

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Rick Barrett	Oct 27, 2001	Seattle WA
Ted, great article! Unfortunately, the "Printer Friendly" version abbreviated it about two thirds of the way through. Contact the seattlepress webmaster.


Rohit	Sep 08, 2002	Ohio	Student
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