Date: Tue, 14 May 2002 22:05:02 -0500 To: dhenwood at panix.com From: Carrie McLaren <carrie at stayfreemagazine.org> Subject: NYC School Board Action Alert
hey Doug,
If you this sort of thing is appropriate, could you do me a favor and send this out to the LBO list? I don't know many people w/kids in the public schools and am trying to get word around..
much thanks, carrie
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* * PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES IN NEW YORK * *
¡NYC ACTION ALERT!
Should NYC schools be sold out to marketers without a public hearing?
Today, May 14, it was reported that the NYC Board of Education is on the verge of signing a deal to find corporate advertisers for the city schools. (See article below.) This comes as news to NYC parents, teachers, and just about everyone else except for the CEOs and Board Members involved. If the deal goes through, expect to see sports uniforms, gymnasiums, and buildings emblazoned with ads for Nike, Gatorade, and other corporate sponsors.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
--> Call School Board President NINFA SEGARRA at (718) 935-3300. Let her know your concerns about public process and the commercialism of education. Demand that approval of the plan be delayed until the document has been released to the public and feedback has been given.
--> Join us at the School Board meeting today -- Wednesday, May 15, 6 p.m. Addressing the Board in public and on the record may be the single most effective action that one can take.
--> Contact Stay Free! at (718) 398-9324 or stay.free at verizon.net. We desperately need the support of public school parents. Let us know if you'd like to be involved and are willing to help.
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Way to Ad to School Funds New York Daily News May 14, 2002
By JOE WILLIAMS Just do it! Is it in you? We love to see you smile!
City schools could soon be going commercial, with advertising logos and slogans - like the ones above, touting Nike sneakers, Gatorade sports drinks and McDonald's food - emblazoned on everything from gymnasiums to sports uniforms.The Board of Education is on the verge of signing an agent to sell advertising space and corporate sponsorships in the hope of bringing tens of millions of dollars a year to cash-strapped city schools, officials said yesterday.
"There is a sense that there is a lot of money out there," said David Klasfeld, deputy chancellor for operations.Officials are betting corporations will shell out big bucks to place ads in school settings - and, in some cases, pay to be the official product of the city's 1.1 million-student school system.
Vote Tomorrow
So Gatorade could become the official drink of the school system, or Nike could be the official sneaker, as at the Olympics.The board is expected to vote tomorrow on whether to hire Growth Through Sports Marketing, a Manhattan firm that works with companies with ties to the sports business."They would be proposing deals to us," said Klasfeld. "This is something that is starting to happen across the country."
The board already allows advertising on school buses, and some entrepreneurial educators have struck deals at individual schools.But the contract with Growth Through Sports Marketing would allow the firm to offer deals that would let advertisers reach schools all across the city, not just those well-known for athletics, Klasfeld said. "I hate to use a sports term, but this would level the playing field," he said.
Revenues would be distributed to schools citywide and be spent on athletic programs or unspecified "other uses," according to a board document.Under the five-year contract, the marketing agent would be paid about 25% of the first $50 million in annual ad and sponsorship revenues. Anything above $50 million would bump the agent's share to 35%.School officials said they would carefully screen advertisers, who would have to make pitches using "board-approved educational, inspirational, motivational and public health, safety and welfare messages."For instance, Nike's "Just Do It" ads would have to say something like "Just do it - stay in school," officials said.
Tobacco ads would be prohibited."The idea is not to plaster walls or wrap schools with logos," said Catie Marshall, a spokeswoman for Chancellor Harold Levy. The biggest money could come from exclusive deals, such as selling one kind of bottled water in school gym vending machines or having school basketball teams outfitted in the same brand of sneaker. Levy, amid pressure to make budget cuts, has pushed the board to find new sources of revenue. Critics, however, charged an onslaught of ads and corporate sponsorship deals would allow businesses to exploit vulnerable kids.
"They aren't going to care if a kid is being exploited," said Emily Heath of the California-based Center for Commercial-Free Public Education. "They are going to care about hitting that $50 million mark so they get paid more."Uniforms could become lucrative ad billboards if the Board of Education signs an agreement to market city schools to sports-related companies. A vote is expected tomorrow on whether to hire a Manhattan agent.
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