EDITORIAL
Some ads could have a place in our schools

Anyone who remembers picking up "My Weekly Reader" in elementary school knows that the line between pure academics and commercial interests has always been blurred.

For-profit companies have always sought access to public schools and the children and families they can deliver as a captive consumer audience. From candy sales drives designed to raise money for a band trip to signs on soft drink machines, commercialism has always had an uneasy relationship with public education.

In some cases, there has been backlash. An attempt to offer "educational" television to the classroom, replete with sales pitches and ads, met with considerable resistance.

A recent report out of the Education Policies Studies Laboratory at Arizona State University found that commercialism in the classroom (as measured by media references) is on the rise. These range from program sponsorship through incentive programs, privatization and even commercial sponsorship of curricula.

Local school officials should resist any effort to put marketing into the classroom — where time is already far too short for the educational mission at hand.

But a more general proposal, to allow some forms of advertising on public school campuses, should not be rejected out of hand. Board of Education members Garrett Toguchi and Randall Yee are proposing a limited program of on-campus advertising as a way to raise money for schools.

Promotional and inspirational messages that are consistent with the school's overall mission and do not intrude into classroom activities might have a place. After all, students are subjected to a barrage of advertising day and night; why not have some of that marketing associated with a constructive message?

This idea is a long way from reality. But some basic standards must be set at the start: First, no advertising should be allowed that competes in any way with the school's mission.

Indeed, the best advertising might be subtle association of local companies and businesses with core messages the school is already trying to convey.

And revenue realized from these ads should be left strictly in the hands of local school administrators and the appropriate school-community council.

Probably most important: This should be a voluntary program that supplements school funding, and it must not be used as a substitute for the basic financial obligations now shouldered by the Department of Education and the state.