California Passes AB116 and 117, Bans Advertising in Textbooks

San Francisco Passes the Commercial-Free Schools Act

Introducing Our New Executive Director

Three Generations Working Together Against Commercialism in Schools!

School Watch Team Blasts Off

Local Highlights: Actions Against Classroom Advertising

In September 1999 two state bills to halt commercialism in schools were passed into law in California. Assembly Bills 116 and 117 may start a new national trend of state laws that look to curb product advertising in schools. “AB 116 and 117 both see school commercialism for what it is: taking advantage of a captive audience of students to promote brand name products during school time,” said Andrew Hagelshaw, Executive Director at the Center for Commercial-Free Public Education.

The legislation represents an enormous victory for the Center, whose work initially inspired California Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni to author the bills. The Center was later able to generate the public pressure that forced the state legislature to pass them on a bipartisan basis. “We are extremely enthusiastic that we have been able to pass these bills,” said Hagelshaw.

AB 116 is especially powerful, as it bans commercial images from appearing in textbooks used in public schools. The law was inspired by a sixth grade math textbook currently distributed nationwide by McGrawHill. The book, Mathematics: Applications and Connections, is laden with advertising and has been approved for use in at least one school district in every state, according to the publisher. Story problems in the book ask students to figure how much money they need to save to buy a pair of Nike shoes. Students are also taught fractions through counting M&Ms.

The Center first became aware of the McGraw-Hill textbook in December of 1998, when Albany (CA) parent Joe Stein noticed his child using the book and began calling local officials to complain. We immediately recognized it to be a new step in the progression of in-school commercialism. Instead of being a curriculum entirely sponsored and distributed by an advertiser, the book was stateapproved and purchased with taxpayer money. This meant that taxpayers would be paying directly for the advertising that would be disseminated to their children. And as a required textbook, the book defined the phrase “captive audience” just as clearly as Channel One or ZapMe.

The Center then sprang into action. At the start of 1999 we worked with Assemblywoman Mazzoni to promote the bills she had authored. Then, at a key moment in March of 1999, we launched a media effort that landed the story of the textbook onto the front page of the New York Times and into most major newspapers in the US. A national AP story followed, along with stories in TIME magazine and on Good Morning America. The media strengthened the case for AB 116 and forced McGrawHill to call off their lobbyists in Sacramento.

Removing the California market for these type of books should force McGrawHill and other major publishers to rethink making textbooks with advertisements. California, New York and Texas are the three largest markets for school textbooks, and every publisher counts on selling their books in those three states if they are to be successful. New York and Louisiana are among other states that are already considering laws similar to AB 116.

AB 117, signed into law September 15 by California Governor Gray Davis, addresses the issues of Channel One, ZapMe and exclusive cola deals. AB 117 requires school districts to hold public meetings to establish policies regarding exclusive cola contracts before they can sign any such deals. School Districts must also prove publicly that any electronic product or service that contains advertising is integral for the school’s education and that the district can’t afford the product or service in any other way. “We see AB 117 as an important fist step toward what is really needed to protect children a ban on all advertising in public schools,” said Hagelshaw.

Other states have taken steps to address advertising in schools. New York has in place a statewide ban on Channel One, while Wisconsin is currently considering legislation to eliminate exclusive cola deals from state schools. Rhode Island put its foot down in October regarding specific types of commercial promotions in school, while New York recently outlawed ads on school busses. Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts and Texas have also made first attempts at laws concerning commercialism in schools. State education superintendents in California and Nevada have also made official statements strongly discouraging schools from signing up with Channel One.

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