| Fall 2001 |
| University of Oregon - Eugene |
Can Businesses Befriend Schools without Compromising their Mission?
Businesses and
schools may seem like strange bedfellows. But both have needs or desires that
can serve as seeds for mutual attraction and involvement. Many administrators
are faced with tight budgets and may perceive commercial involvement in their
schools as a relatively painless way to obtain additional resources, such as
computers or revenue generated from soft drink vending contracts. Similarly,
businesses are perpetually seeking to attract new customers, whose purchases
are responsible for keeping them afloat.
Although factors
contributing to the formation of business-school partnerships are diverse and
complex, it is important to recognize at the outset that aside from possible
academic benefits that could accrue to students as the result of such an
alliance, financial considerations are often a motivating force, prompting both
schools and businesses to want to tango.
In human
relationships, the mere fact that two people are attracted to one another
doesn’t necessarily mean the relationship is healthy or in the best interest of
either or both the individuals. The same holds true for business-school
arrangements. A partnership between schools and businesses may be the
equivalent of a “bad marriage” or a “good marriage” depending on the specific
nature of the relationship.
In the Fall 2001
Policy Report, Business Partnerships with Schools, Kirstin Larson
examines several facets of school-business partnerships, including corporate
sponsorships, school-to-career activities, commercialism on the Internet, and
student privacy and other legal and ethical issues. Pros and cons of
school-business alliances are discussed and guidelines for creating and
sustaining mutually beneficial partnerships are provided.
As Larson notes,
“Over the last two decades, the business community has significantly expanded
its involvement in public schools. From ‘adopt-a-school’ programs and
school-to-career partnership to lobbying for national education reforms,
business leaders are taking on an increasing share of the responsibility to
educate America’s youth.” Some local firms and national corporations become
involved with schools for altruistic reasons, motivated by a sincere desire to
serve their communities by investing funds and other resources in schools.
However, other business leaders have a “blatant profit motive” and “view their
involvement in education primarily as a way to conduct market research and
advertise in schools.”
Marketing their
products and maintaining and expanding their customer base are of utmost
importance to commercial enterprises, for without a sufficient number of
consumers purchasing their products or services, they will cease to exist.
Businesses that gain access to students (through marketing surveys, direct
product promotion strategies, and other efforts) can reap significant financial
rewards. Students are a coveted segment of the consuming public, and, as
businesses are keenly aware, they will soon become adults, with full-time jobs
and even more discretionary income.
As school-business
partnerships have proliferated, so has concern about the effects of such
partnerships on students’ learning and purchasing behavior, as well as on the
potential for breeches of student privacy. If schools elect to partner with
companies that provide online resources to students, they should be aware of
the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Effective April 21, 2000,
this act applies to the online collection of personal information by commercial
web sites from children under thirteen years of age. In addition, if schools
are to be in compliance with the spirit of the Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act (FERPA), designed primarily to protect the privacy of students’
educational records, they should also obtain parental consent before allowing
students to provide any personally identifiable information on web sites
accessed at school.
Of course, school
officials must be knowledgeable of the laws regulating school-based commercial
activities in their state, since variability exists across states. Currently,
nineteen states have statutes or regulations but in most of these states the
legislation is not comprehensive, but only addresses certain types of
commercial activities.
To ensure that
educational values are not distorted or diluted within the context of a
school-business partnership, eight principles for corporate involvement in
schools have been jointly developed and adopted by the National Association of
State Boards of Education, National Parent-Teachers Association, American
Association of School Administrators, National Council of Social Studies, and
the National Education Association. By adhering to the following principles,
educators will be able to do a better job of protecting the welfare of students
as well as the integrity of the learning environment:
1.
Corporate involvement shall not require students to observe,
listen to, or read commercial advertising.
2.
Selling or providing access to a captive audience in the
classroom for commercial purposes is exploitation and a violation of the public
trust.
3.
Since school property and time are publicly funded, selling or
providing free access to advertising on school property outside the classroom
involves ethical and legal issues that must be addressed.
4.
Corporate involvement must support the goals and objectives of
the schools. Curriculum and instruction are within the purview of educators.
Programs of corporate involvement must be structured to meet
an identified education need, not a commercial motive, and must be evaluated
for educational effectiveness by the school/district on an ongoing basis.
Schools and educators should hold sponsored and donated
materials to the same standards used for the selection and purchase of
curriculum materials.
Corporate involvement programs should not limit the discretion
of schools and teachers in the use of sponsored materials.
Sponsor recognition and corporate logos should be for
identification rather than commercial purposes.
The two most
common types of school-business partnerships are school-to-career activities,
where students are viewed primarily as future members of the work force, and corporate
sponsorship programs, where the role of students as consumers is stressed.
The ultimate goal of school-to-career activities is to ensure that students
possess the requisite skills to successfully transition from school to the work
force. As part of this process, businesses may hold career fairs; offer paid
work experience, internships, or job shadows; conduct mock interviews, and
offer workshops for students and teachers. In corporate sponsorship programs,
the emphasis is on providing “schools with money, goods, or services in
exchange for the opportunity to advertise or sell products to students.”
It is critical for
school personnel to be able to distinguish between educational partnerships and
business deals, for if that line blurs, ethical boundaries blur as well. When
there is not a clear and direct educational benefit to students, the
arrangement is not a genuine educational partnership. For example, allowing
businesses to advertise on school buses in exchange for funding would
constitute a business deal, not an educational partnership, since children do
not derive any legitimate academic benefit from the arrangement.
Prior to making a
decision about entering into a partnership with business, schools should
consult their constituents, including parents and the larger community. If they
ultimately decide to proceed, before finalizing the arrangement school
officials should identify the specific educational goals that will be achieved
by the partnership and design a district policy that addresses ethical and
legal issues.
Although the potential exists for businesses to
contribute to the learning experiences of students, it is critical for
educators to proceed cautiously, honestly weighing both the advantages and
disadvantages inherent in such a relationship. To do less would be to
compromise their commitment to students, which must remain educators’ highest
priority.
To order Business
Partnerships with Schools, see How to Order
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