More N.J. schools turning to advertising to make ends meet

Parents Forum
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<p>“Linden High School’s electronic sign, on heavily-traveled Saint Georges Avenue, may begin showing paid ads along with school messages. Linden school officials are looking at raising revenue by selling ads on school property. They’ve been told the high-visibility sign could bring in $100,000 a year.” …</p>

<p>How long before they start selling school naming rights? “IHOP Middle School” “GoDaddy.com Elementary School” “Bed Bath & Beyond Vocational Technical School”</p>

<p>[More</a> N.J. schools turning to advertising to make ends meet | NJ.com](<a href=“http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/03/schools_look_at_advertising_to.html]More”>More N.J. schools turning to advertising to make ends meet - nj.com)</p>

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<p>Other than the football field , I don’t see that flying at our local high school</p>

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<p>Maybe AT&T and Verizon will offer money for putting in a cell tower on school property.</p>

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<p>One thing I love about D’s private university is that they do not permit advertising on their webpages or on their sports fields. They do not want to be seen as beholden to commerical interests. The story behind that is that one of their major athletic donors showed up to a football game one day and noticed ads in the stadium. He was livid over the tackiness of it, and offered to give more money if they’d take them down permanently. Besides it being tacky, it’s annoying to have to wait for a video ad to play out before you can access games scores on a college athletics webpage. </p>

<p>It seems worse to me when it’s a public university or public secondary school, which I feel is supposed to be run in a democratic fashion for community benefit. I guess because I’d wonder if the school could be bought, eg. does the S or D of the top advertiser get perks? Better grades? More playing time?</p>