Schools Selling Ads,
Raising Funds to Pay
for Basics, Study
Warns
CBC, 5/15/06
One in three
Canadian schools puts
ads on its walls and
others raise funds to
pay for everything
from library books to
school supplies, a
Canadian Teachers’
Federation study
suggests.
The results of the
first numbers-based
study of marketing in
the school system
found that ad deals
with corporations and
fundraising campaigns
are being used to
support schools’ basic
needs.
“More and more,
what we’re seeing
fundraising dollars go
to is not, in fact,
what we might consider
a frill, “ said Erika
Shaker, a research
team member from the
Canadian Centre for
Policy Alternatives.
‘You can argue that
a sink isn’t
necessary, but I’d
like to think that
running water is
something that you can
expect in our
schools.’-Erika
Shaker, researcher
Shaker told a news
conference in Toronto
that this pattern is
“a symptom of the
public underfunding of
education.”
Schools raise an
estimated $200 million
across Canada from ad
deals and fundraising,
the report said. Money
is generated by
selling chocolate
bars, ads on campus,
charging user fees,
exclusive contracts
with corporations and
even by selling
curriculum materials,
it said.
Among the report’s
findings:
* Coke and Pepsi
dominate deals with
schools; 27 per cent
of all schools have
exclusive marketing
contracts with the
beverage companies.
* 49 per cent of all
schools raise money in
order to pay for
library books, and 60
per cent of elementary
schools do so.
* 30 per cent of
schools have incentive
programs, which
encourage students and
staff to purchase or
use a specific
company’s products or
services.
* More than 79 per
cent of schools charge
user fees for a
variety of programs.
* 32 per cent of
schools reported the
presence of
advertising.
Ads and deals with
corporations are
troubling, because
students are a
“captive audience,”
said Marilies Reddig,
president of the
Ontario Teachers’
Federation.
Quebec schools have
the least advertising
because of laws
restricting ads
targeting children 13
and under.
“In Quebec, right
now, it’s a success
because it’s been
legislated,” said
Winston Carter,
Canadian Teachers’
Federation president.
“If there were more
provinces in Canada
that offered the same
type of legislation,
we could have a much
better handle on
what’s happening right
now.”
Fundraising went to
sinks in one case
Ad deals and
fundraising went most
often to library books
and school trips, the
survey found. But
Shaker said she heard
from one parent who
said fundraising
dollars were used to
buy sinks for school
bathrooms.
“You can argue that
a sink isn’t
necessary, but I’d
like to think that
running water is
something that you can
expect in our
schools,” she said.
Schools across
Canada raised an
average of $15,075,
the report said, but
amounts ranged from a
few hundred dollars to
several hundred
thousand dollars.
“School communities
have varying degrees
of capacity to
fundraise and
otherwise attract
outside funding,” the
report said.
“Wealthier
neighbourhoods can,
and do, raise more
money.”
Shaker said this is
a problem, because
schools are “intended
to provide a basis for
which we can overcome
social and economic
inequities. What
private funding is
doing is actually
reinforcing the
inequities that exist.
That’s the real
tragedy.”
|
