To: Seattle School Board, School Board Members
Keep Advertising OUT of Seattle Public Schools!
I am writing to ask that you reverse the amendment to policy 4237 allowing increased advertising in the school environment.
Every day, the average student is bombarded with thousands of advertising messages. These messages have only one intent—advancing the interest of a corporate entity ahead of the interest of the student or society as a whole.
As the policy states, "compulsory attendance creates an obligation for the school district to protect the welfare of students." I urge you to uphold your duty to protect the welfare of students rather than seeking an expedient solution to current funding issues.
Corporations caused the financial crisis. Don't sell them access to the hearts and minds of Seattle students as a short-sighted fix to solve the district's budget issues.
I urge you to demonstrate principled leadership to students and reverse this amendment.
Every day, the average student is bombarded with thousands of advertising messages. These messages have only one intent—advancing the interest of a corporate entity ahead of the interest of the student or society as a whole.
As the policy states, "compulsory attendance creates an obligation for the school district to protect the welfare of students." I urge you to uphold your duty to protect the welfare of students rather than seeking an expedient solution to current funding issues.
Corporations caused the financial crisis. Don't sell them access to the hearts and minds of Seattle students as a short-sighted fix to solve the district's budget issues.
I urge you to demonstrate principled leadership to students and reverse this amendment.
Why is this important?
For the past several years, Seattle Public Schools has been a national leader in efforts to limit the influence of advertising in the school environment. The existing policy banned all advertising in schools because “compulsory attendance creates an obligation for the school district to protect the welfare of students”.
However, on June 20, the Seattle School Board is voting to amend their current policy to ALLOW CORPORATE ADVERTISING IN THE SCHOOLS.
The proposed amendment is extremely vague and allows advertising banners to be hung on school “fields” (ie, next to playgrounds) and reinstates Channel One, a controversial ad-supported classroom TV network. The proposed amendment mentions that the funds “may” be used for ASB (ie student activity funds), but it makes no promise that the funds will go there rather than to general district overhead and bureaucracy.
Despite the economic crisis facing most of us, American corporations are making record profits. School districts should be TAXING corporations rather than doing their bidding for a few crumbs. (One could argue that many of these corporations created the financial crisis that drained tax revenues and increased schools’ dependence on corporations.)
What can you do:
- Email or call your school board members. Contact info below, along with a sample letter.
- Attend the next School Board meeting on June 20 at 4:15 pm. (Testify! Hold signs! Make noise!)
- Sign this ONLINE PETITION that we will deliver to the district
- Educate yourself about this issue
- Send this email to ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS
- Share this on Facebook, etc with as many people as possible.
- For more info, please contact the Occupy Seattle Public Education Working Group at [email protected] or like us on Facebook!
However, on June 20, the Seattle School Board is voting to amend their current policy to ALLOW CORPORATE ADVERTISING IN THE SCHOOLS.
The proposed amendment is extremely vague and allows advertising banners to be hung on school “fields” (ie, next to playgrounds) and reinstates Channel One, a controversial ad-supported classroom TV network. The proposed amendment mentions that the funds “may” be used for ASB (ie student activity funds), but it makes no promise that the funds will go there rather than to general district overhead and bureaucracy.
Despite the economic crisis facing most of us, American corporations are making record profits. School districts should be TAXING corporations rather than doing their bidding for a few crumbs. (One could argue that many of these corporations created the financial crisis that drained tax revenues and increased schools’ dependence on corporations.)
What can you do:
- Email or call your school board members. Contact info below, along with a sample letter.
- Attend the next School Board meeting on June 20 at 4:15 pm. (Testify! Hold signs! Make noise!)
- Sign this ONLINE PETITION that we will deliver to the district
- Educate yourself about this issue
- Send this email to ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS
- Share this on Facebook, etc with as many people as possible.
- For more info, please contact the Occupy Seattle Public Education Working Group at [email protected] or like us on Facebook!