Resolution on Advertising and Commercial Activity in the Seattle Public Schools

Passed overwhelmingly on Nov. 20, 2000 by Representative Assembly of the Seattle Education Association

WHEREAS: The promotion of commercial products or services in public schools, through advertising or the distribution of promotional products may reasonably be perceived by children, families, and the general public as an endorsement of those commercial products and/or services, or the commercial entities with which they are associated;

AND WHEREAS: Allowing commercial advertising or market research to occur in public schools would constitute a conflict of public and private interests, and potentially violate students' right to privacy;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Representative Assembly of the Seattle Education Association recommends that the Seattle School Board adopt the following policy on advertising and commercial activity in the Seattle Public Schools:

ADVERTISING: The Seattle School District and its schools may not accept paid or unpaid advertising; may not intentionally or actively promote or advertise the products or services of commercial entities in schools; and may not enter into contracts with individuals or businesses which intentionally or actively promote or advertise the products or services of commercial entities in schools.

MARKET RESEARCH: The Seattle School District and its schools may not intentionally or actively conduct market research for commercial products or services in schools, and may not enter into contracts with individuals or businesses which intentionally or actively conduct market research in schools for commercial products or services.

PROMOTIONAL ITEMS: The Seattle School District and its schools may not distribute to students at school free products, sample, or incentives, which seek to promote commercial interests.

LOGOS: Logos (registered trademarks) may appear on items for identification purposes only. This includes items at school and items sent home with students.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

Advertising: Includes commercial messages and promotional logos intentionally or actively placed on scoreboards, wall space, buses, textbooks, kiosks, building roofs, or furniture. It includes commercial messages intentionally or actively displayed in electronic media formats such as those displayed in Channel One programming and banner advertisements intentionally placed by the N2H2 Internet provider on non-commercial WebPages visited by public school students. It also includes corporate naming rights to facilities or parts of facilities.

Logos: Considered to be designated for the purpose of identification or brand recognition of a product. The logo or trademark identifies the actual contents of a product but does not appear without a direct association with that product. For example, a Pepsi logo on a can of Pepsi is permissible but a Pepsi logo on a vending machine is not.

Market Research: Recording information concerning individuals' behaviors with regard to their product or service preferences or, in the case of banner advertisement solicitations, the effectiveness of specific advertising in soliciting a user response.