Advertisements can save public school programs from the axe

I was in high school when I first realized that my school district, Pittsburgh Public Schools, was forced to pinch pennies. In response to reduced funding, Pittsburgh Public Schools enacted a variety of district-wide cuts — a move that resulted in laying off teachers and increasing class sizes.

Unfortunately, public schools are running out of money, and in a way that is conflicting with their ability to offer students a proper education. By cutting programs like extracurricular activities, electives, tutoring services and other initiatives that supplement a child’s education, schools lacking necessary funds put their students at a disadvantage compared to those residing in more well-off districts. To resolve this, schools need to figure out how to raise money in a way that combats reductions in allocated funding.

The Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials and the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators conducted a survey in 2013 showing that, since 2010, the Pittsburgh Public School system has lost $27 million in cuts. Gov. Tom Wolf criticized then-Gov. Tom Corbett for nearly $1 billion in cuts Wolf claimed Corbett made from public schools in 2011.

The PASBO and the PASA also determined that nearly 20,000 educational jobs had been eliminated at the time of the survey.

Educators’ jobs face continued threats. The Pittsburgh Post–Gazette wrote on Pennsylvania’s unemployment rise several months ago, determining that the education and health services sector had lost 6,300 jobs in March 2015.

Along with the job cuts, 37 percent of school districts offered fewer elective courses during the 2013-14 school year. Summer school programs were cut in 13 percent of school districts. The survey also detailed cuts or eliminations for tutoring programs and extracurricular activities.

A 2012 survey conducted by Phi Delta Kappa, an Educational Foundation, and Gallup determined that 97 percent of the population said that improving the nation’s urban schools was important. Sixty-two percent surveyed even agreed that they would be willing to pay more taxes to obtain this goal.

One solution to these problems could be selling advertising space.

In the average school building, there are hundreds of lockers, empty walls and tables that have the potential to be used as space for advertisements. There is no question that local businesses would be eager to support the school systems and promote their companies at the same time. Advertising in schools also allows companies to reach a wide and incredibly susceptible market.

An article published in the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2007 revealed that young children are more susceptible to advertising because they are more cognitively and psychologically defenseless to the stimuli.

Of course, limits would need to be set to ensure that advertising doesn’t get out of hand. For instance, ads shouldn’t be displayed in classrooms, so as to avoid distractions.

The school board should also have to review all ads to make sure they are appropriate for a school environment. Once the board deems an ad appropriate, school systems could even survey parents to ensure that the majority are comfortable with allowing the ad to be displayed. Only after such a process would the school display the ad.

Some school districts have already begun selling advertising space to companies, setting similar guidelines.

A Minnesota public school district, St. Francis School District, was the first to allow billboard-esque advertisements on its lockers, a move which generated $230,000 per year for the district’s five schools.

That same year, California’s Sweetwater Union High School District approved a policy that would allow advertisements inside the district’s 15 high schools and began accepting advertising proposals. With advertising, Sweetwater is expected to generate up to $1 million per year.

Sweetwater Union spokesperson Lillian Leopold described the guidelines that permitted 4 Visual Media Group to advertise within the school. Advertisements could be in the gymnasium, the cafeteria or the walls in the common areas — but not in the classrooms.

The Jefferson County School District in Colorado permitted ads on school buses through an exclusive contract with a bank. This move generated $500,000 for the school over four years.

One of the biggest concerns that comes with advertising in schools is the potential for the corporation to, ultimately, affect the school’s curriculum. However, most of the school districts that have attempted incorporating advertisements hold tight contracts with advertisers over which they have full control. This means that districts determine what advertisements will be displayed, along with their placement.

Movements like the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood have also opposed advertisements in schools out of concern for the effects of commercialization on students.

But with education becoming increasingly more important, it is vital that schools receive proper funding. While some of that money can come from the federal and local governments, it only covers a fraction of what is needed to provide a well-rounded education for our youth, including the option of extracurriculars.

Selling advertising space in schools can help provide those much-needed extra dollars to fund many of the programs that school districts are cutting throughout the country.

No child sitting in a classroom should ever have their school’s financial circumstance as their utmost concern.

Ben Morgenstern primarily writes about education and social issues for The Pitt News.

Write to Ben at bdm46@pitt.edu.