Subject: Help stop Corporate Influence in Olympia's schools-OSB mtg 1/13
To: The regular commercialism list, new folks from CCCS and anyone who I thought would be interested--feel free to forward to others!
From: Stephanie Johnson
RE: Olympia School Board meeting, Monday, January 13, 7:00pm, Rogers Elementary School

I need your help. Over the last six months, I have been working with a handful of people to encourage the Olympia School Board to adopt a policy limiting corporate influence, in the form of commercialism, in our schools. In our opinion, schools should be a place where students learn to be selective about the extraordinary amount of marketing they are exposed to on a daily basis, rather than one more place for marketers to try to "brand" them. We have been dancing around this policy for 1/2 a year, and last month, there was a completely dismal meeting where it became evident that businesses had been leaning on the school board to relax the proposed policy, as a knee jerk reaction to something they haven't studied. Nothing wrong with good old philanthropy--what is wrong is the expectation that giving something gives corporations unlimited access to our students. And our lone supporter on the board was all alone--no friendly faces in the audience. Please take a look at the following policy and come to lend your support at the meeting this next Monday (we will be speaking during the comment period at the beginning of the evening, but it would be great if you could stay. We'll be the group wearing the stickers which say "Our Kids Are Not for Sale".) The rest of the board is not going to make effective change unless they think it is politically in their best interest. A lot of parents and/or concerned citizens could really make a difference.

Call me with any questions, clarifications, directions to the meeting - anything! 943-4596 Stephanie

Following is a letter from school board member Russ Lehman (our champion), followed by his proposed policy draft:
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At the bottom, please find my proposed revision of the commercialism policy.

As I have said at the last few Board meetings, I have changed my view somewhat on the best approach. My belief is now that a more limited proscriptive policy is appropriate with a significant focus instead on media literacy. The draft below is borrowed, in large measure, from the Milwaukee Principles with a few changes. I think this sets forth the basics without getting unnecessarily bogged down in legalistic details.

The Board appears to reject this approach in favor of the Districts (read: Bill's/Shelly's) approach. A lot of words, and I believe, not much fundamental change. In fact, it could be argued that the new policy will merely be a more wordy version of the old policy with little clarity and direction offered to staff.

Any help available next Monday would be appreciated. At the last meeting I was truly ALONE. It is clear that my colleagues are persuaded greatly by whom ever is in front of them at the time. The media literacy issue, I am afraid, will not move forward because the Board will feel it has done something merely by receiving the presentations made last meeting.

Please come to meetings and encourage others to come as well. Perhaps we can amass a list of parents/community members to come to meetings so that they rotate and never go to too many but a good showing is had at every meeting.

Please call with any questions/ideas/comments

Thanks so much for all your help.
Russ
Wk 352 9833

POLICY - PERSONNEL 4137
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The District Board of Directors recognizes that compulsory attendance confers on educators an obligation to protect the welfare of their students and the integrity of the learning environment and while it finds that there are school-business relationships which can assist the District in providing the highest quality education, it also finds that staff members, students and schools should be free of outside commercial promotion and directs the administration to so proceed in accordance with the following principles:

  1. The acceptance of any commercial involvement shall not require any students to observe, listen to or read commercial advertising.
  2. Since school property and time are publicly funded, selling or providing access to advertising within any school building, or selling or providing access to a captive audience in any school for commercial purposes is prohibited as a violation of this policy and the public trust.
  3. Any commercial involvement in any school must support the goals and objectives of the Olympia School District as set forth in all Board policies, procedures and other official acts.
  4. Programs which include commercial involvement must be structured to meet pre-identified educational need and not commercial motives and must be evaluated for educational effectiveness by the Superintendent or his/her designee.
  5. The District will hold sponsored and donated materials to the same standards as those used for the selection of curriculum materials.
  6. Within any school building, identification of any commercial enterprise, whether for sponsor recognition or as a result of permissible involvement, will be for identification purposes only.

Policy Adopted: November 14, 1962
Revised: January 13, 1986
Re-adopted: February 12, 1996
Olympia School District 111 Olympia, Washington