Citizens' Campaign for Commercial-Free Schools

Milwaukee Principles for Corporate Involvement in the Schools

School-business relationships based on sound principles can contribute to high quality education. However, compulsory attendance confers on educators an obligation to protect the welfare of their students and the integrity of the learning environment. Therefore, when working together, schools and businesses must ensure that educational values are not distorted in the process. Positive school-business relationships should be ethical and structured in accordance with all eight of the following principles:

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.

5. 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.

6. Schools and educators should hold sponsored and donated materials to the same standards used for the selection and purchase of curriculum materials.

7. Corporate involvement programs should not limit the discretion of schools and teachers in the use of sponsored materials.

8. Sponsor recognition and corporate logos should be for identification rather than commercial purposes.
   (Note: Alex Molnar later clarified that this means 'logos to identify the contents of a package', not 'logos to identify corporate sponsors'.)

These principles were developed at a meeting proposed by Alex Molnar and hosted by the School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, November 26-27, 1990.

They have been adopted by the following organizations:

• Action for Children's Television
• National Parent Teachers Association
• American Association of State Boards of Education
• National Council for the Social Studies

They have been endorsed by the state superintendents of education in the following states: California, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Carolina.