|
Beyond the Bake Sale
Public Schools Look for Alternative Funding to Make Ends Meet
 Listen to Part One of the series.
Listen to Part Two.
Listen to Part Three.
West Ashley High School in Charleston County, S.C., has an exclusive drink vending contract with Pepsi Bottling Group. Forty-four drink vending machines are spread through the halls of the school, which gets a 43-cent commission for each dollar spent on a drink.
Photo: NOW with Bill Moyers
|
Standing outside a local high school, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Education Foundation Executive Director Louise Henry holds up a large check representing a donation of more than $13,000 from school district employees.
Photo: Emily Harris, NPR News
|
Teacher Cari Spence got more than $3,000 to help pay for electronic keyboards at her elementary school.
Photo: Emily Harris, NPR News
|
Victor Quintanilla, a senior at the Marriott Hospitality Public Charter High School in Washington, D.C., decorates a cake in the "Hospitality Olympics."
Photo: Emily Harris, NPR News
|
October 2002 -- It's no secret: Public schools often have a tough time with funding. Many are now looking for new sources of money that don't depend on taxpayers. The amounts don't usually rival tax contributions, but even a few thousand dollars can make a difference at a school. In "Beyond the Bake Sale," a three-part series for Morning Edition, NPR's Emily Harris takes a look at some ways public schools are turning to private money, the benefits and the consequences.
Friday, October 18, 2002
Part 1: The Charleston Soda Debate
This past August, the school district in Charleston County, South Carolina, signed an exclusive marketing deal with the Pepsi Bottling Group. That means only drinks made or distributed by Pepsi can be sold in any school or administration building. (Milk and a school branded water are the only exceptions.) The lure is money -- a potential $8.1 million over five years. But a group of parents is fighting to break the contract. They say school board members signed off on an agreement that pushes soft drinks on kids, especially since much of that $8.1 million would only be realized though commissions off soda sales. Health professionals have joined the fight, worried about a dramatic rise in obesity among young Americans. In collaboration with the PBS program NOW with Bill Moyers, Harris visits West Ashley High School in Charleston, which had its own exclusive deal with Pepsi before the whole district signed on. Pepsi money has paid for a lot there, and the principal doesn't want to see it go.
 Listen to Part 1
Friday, October 25, 2002
Part 2: Public Schools, Private Foundations
Just like colleges and universities, public K-12 schools and districts are starting their own foundations. They pay for everything from insects to dissect in science class to teacher salaries and benefits. People have given to their local schools for years. But from Vermont to California, foundations are now taking "gifting" to a new level. Many were started in response to state laws that took property tax revenue from rich districts and redistributed it to poorer schools. Others, in property poor districts, are vehicles to attract corporate support. Around the country, states are just beginning to assess foundations' potential impact. One thing is clear: No one is really keeping track of the money. Harris visits Grapevine-Colleyville, a district in the Dallas suburbs. So far, its foundation's funds are somewhat modest. But its dreams are big.
Listen to Part 2
Friday, November 1, 2002
Part 3: Marriott's Hospitality High School
You've heard of naming rights being offered to big funders of stadiums, hospital wings, and even school gyms. But a whole high school? A charter school experiment in education/industry partnerships has done just that. The Marriott Hospitality Public Charter High School in Washington, D.C., is funded in part by a $1 million donation from the Marriott Foundation. Other hospitality-oriented business groups have contributed, too. The aim is to get high school kids interested in careers in hospitality. Backers want to use this school as a model to replicate nationwide. So far: mixed reviews.
Listen to Part 3
In Depth
Listen to a Morning Edition report on the Los Angeles School Board voting to ban soft drink sales at its schools. Aug. 28, 2002.
Hear a Morning Edition report on a Madison, Wis., school having second thoughts about an exclusive deal with Coca-Cola. June 1, 2000.
Listen to a Morning Edition report on the debate over making soda widely available in schools. Nov. 24, 1999.
Hear a Morning Edition report on private foundations withholding millions in funding from Pittsburgh schools. July 30, 2002.
Listen to an All Things Considered report on a looming budget crisis in state funding for public schools. June 5, 2002.
Hear an All Things Considered report on a Vermont law that attempts to equalize funding for public schools. Feb. 10, 1999.
Listen to a Talk of the Nation discussion on corporations buying the right to place their names on stadiums and other public buildings. March 5, 2001.
 Search for NPR stories on charter schools.
Read about ways to prevent childhood obesity.
Other Resources
The Charleston Soda Debate
• The NOW with Bill Moyers site has more information on Emily Harris' report on the Charleston schools soda debate.
• The Commercialism in Education Research Unit at Arizona State University has reports, articles and summaries of legislation on commercial activities in schools.
• A September 2000 report from the General Accounting Office examines commercial activities in schools. (Adobe Acrobat required.)
• The National Soft Drink Association has information on business partnerships with schools, efforts to ban soft drinks in schools, and soft drinks and nutrition.
• Commercial Alert, whose advisory board is chaired by Ralph Nader, is a group that opposes commercialization in schools.
• The Charleston County, S.C., chapter of Parents for Public Schools advocates parent involvement in school improvements and funding.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reports and statistics on children and obesity.
• The Ohio chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement about the health consequences of exclusive soda contracts in schools.
Public Schools, Private Foundations
• The Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Education Foundation supports the educational programs of a public school district north of Dallas.
• A Research Synthesis: Unequal School Funding in the United States, a paper in the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development journal, Educational Leadership.
• The Portland Schools Foundation operates in a district where individual schools are allowed to have foundations. They must give one-third of what they raise to this organization to be distributed to other schools in less well-off neighborhoods.
• The California Consortium of Education Foundations supports more than 400 local foundations in the state. These types of foundations took off after Proposition 13 rolled back property taxes and redistributed school funding around the state.
• The Public Education Network provides information on "local education funds," community-based organizations that support public schools.
Marriott's Hospitality High School
• The District of Columbia Public Charter School Board oversees charter schools in Washington, D.C., along with the district's school board.
• The Hotel Association of Washington, D.C. and Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington got together to start a public charter high school to promote hospitality careers among D.C. high school students.
• The Marriott Foundation gave $1 million over 10 years to help fund the school.
• The hospitality curriculum used at the Marriott Hospitality Public Charter High School was developd by the Hospitality Business Alliance.
• The Lodging Management Program has related information.
• Charter schools have given a variety of industries new opportunities to get involved in public education.
• The U.S. government recently sponsored a project called School-to-Work to develop career training.
|
