San Francisco Passes the Commercial-Free Schools Act

California Passes AB116 and 117, Bans Advertising in Textbooks

Introducing Our New Executive Director

Three Generations Working Together Against Commercialism in Schools!

School Watch Team Blasts Off

Local Highlights: Actions Against Classroom Advertising

On June 22nd 1999, San Francisco became the largest school district yet to approve policies on commercialism in schools. The “Commercial-Free Schools Act,” coauthored by two members of the San Francisco Board of Education, was passed to set limits on in-school advertising.

The Act calls for all long term corporate sponsorships to be directly approved by the Board of Education, and strictly forbids teachers from using curriculum that includes unnecessary brand name advertising. This includes electronic media such as Channel One and ZapMe. The Act also forbids San Francisco from entering into a districtwide exclusive contract with a soda or snack food company.

“This policy is among the strongest protective measures we’ve seen taken by any district in the country,” said Andrew Hagelshaw, Executive Director of the Center.

San Francisco now joins the list of schools that have passed policies to address issues of commercialism. The Center for Commercial-Free Public Education believes that such policies will be more and more necessary for school districts as they deal with increasing levels of commercialism.

Policies, if written well, can be a preemptive measure that determines what a school district will and won’t accept before they are confronted with a contract that calls for advertising. Policies give the school district the opportunity to create guidelines that emphasize positive school-business partnerships, and protect students from marketers that would take school time to advertise brand name products.

“All too often school districts haven’t thought the issue through, or haven’t discussed the issue thoroughly. A lack of policy leaves districts vulnerable to a sales pitch that makes financial promises at the expense of the kids,” said Dylan Bernstein, Senior Program Director at the Center. “Commercialism policies can also be written to ensure there will be a public process for these contracts, in which parents and students are fully informed and given every opportunity to present their opinion to their school board.”

The policy in San Francisco was supported by community members, parents, teachers and students who spoke before the school board. Sarah Lipson, a San Francisco first grade teacher, showed the board members a curriculum developed by the Jelly Belly (jelly bean) Company that she had been sent unsolicited in the hopes she would use it in her classroom. “I chose not to teach the curriculum,” she said. “School is the only place left where children are not bombarded with advertisements.”

The majority of the San Francisco Board of Education agreed with her. “More and more school children are viewed as markets rather than as the future resource of the nation,” said Jill Wynns, one of the board members who co-authored the policy. “It’s our responsibility to make it clear that schools are here to serve children, not commercial interests.”

In order to provide schools with a starting point, the Center is releasing sample commercialism policies. The policies are being compiled from five already existing school board policies on commercialism, with a few added clauses that reflect some of the newer trends we have discovered. The policies will also include a “howto” section to help community members effectively work with their school boards.

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