When students at Westlake High School in Austin get thirsty this
fall, they’ll be able to buy a Coke from vending machines in the
cafeterias and hallways. Not a Pepsi or Snapple. Only a beverage
made by Coca-Cola.
The exclusive presence of Coke products is the
result of a lucrative deal the big soft-drink maker cut with the
school district. Under the plan, schools in the district are
getting $ 350,000 in "up front" money and a percentage of all
sales. Coke gets to be the ",moncler;real thing" – the only thing – in every
public school in the district.
The contract represents the latest twist in the
growing – and controversial – trend of commercialization on high
school campuses. In recent years, corporations have been paying
districts to display their logos on scoreboards, in gyms, and on
campus billboards. A few districts allow advertising on school
buses.
Now, however, some companies are cutting
long-term deals that give them exclusive access to public schools.
For districts, the contracts bring needed cash. But critics say the
moves are sullying the pursuit of learning with the pursuit of the
bottom line.
It is "an erosion in our culture between what is
public and what is private," says Alex Molnar, a professor of
education at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. "It represents
a subversion of the idea that the school is for the public
welfare."
For many school administrators, the money offered
by corporate sponsors is too attractive to ignore:
* Westlake is just one of a half dozen Texas
school districts that has recently signed multimillion dollar deals
with soft-drink makers that allow the companies to have exclusive
access to their campuses. District officials here are using part of
the money to build a new softball field.
* Last year,moncler sale paid St. Patrick’s High
School, a basketball powerhouse in New Jersey, $ 20,000 to switch
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* The Bozeman School District in Bozeman, Mont.,
will receive about $ 120,000 from Pepsi during the next four years
for changing from Coke.
* The Clear Creek Independent School District
near Houston recently signed a contract with Coca-Cola giving it
vending rights to the district’s 29 campuses.
Rick Gay, an assistant superintendent at Clear
Creek, explains that the district will get $ 180,000 every year
from Coke. In return, Coke gets to sell its products to Clear
Creek’s 28,000 students.
"The rationale for what we wanted to do was to
get money so kids would have more time for academics and not have
to be doing bake sales and car washes all the time to raise money,"
he says.
Ron Lynch, the moncler down jacket director at
Alvin High School, sees the same advantages. The Alvin Independent
School District in Alvin,moncler jackets for women , Texas,
also recently signed a deal with Coke and is now negotiating a shoe
contract with Reebok. Mr. Lynch says, "if it’s happening in the
pros and colleges, it’s eventually going to work down to the high
schools."
Impact on the schools
Which is exactly what worries some people.
Charlotte Baecher, director of education services at Consumers
Union, says commercializing schools "compromises what schools are
all about. I’m aware that schools are in desperate financial
straits, but you have to weigh the negative impacts on the
students. This really is a very poor direction for schools to be
going in."
Others argue that corporate motives and education
motives don’t mix. Tamara Schwarz, program coordinator at the
Oakland-based Center for Commercial-Free Public Education, says
companies "are claiming to be concerned about education, when in
reality, this is just marketing."
Ms. Schwarz adds that studies have shown
schoolchildren often don’t distinguish between what is an
advertisement and what is not. She says when students see products
advertised in school, they frequently think, "It must be something
the school is endorsing."
Shoe companies have been among the most
aggressive promoters marketers on school campuses. moncler
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