Feb.27,2012: Let's Help the Schools Make Money

LET’S HELP THE SCHOOLS MAKE MONEY

I was listening last week to a news program where they were discussing the design and sale of Sports Authority Field (formally Invesco Field) at Mile High in Denver. That got me thinking. Another sector of the economy that is really hurting, and could benefit from marketing the naming rights of their buildings, is the education sector.

My local school district, Jefferson County Public Schools, has to reduce another $20 million from next year’s budget. The district has been in a tight position for the past three years and has had to trim huge amounts from the budget. Thankfully they’ve kept most of the cuts out of the classroom, with the exception of two elementary school closures last year and a couple of furlough days --which mean no school for kids and no pay for employees. They’ve made significant salary reductions, for a government entity, reducing all employees’ pay by 3%. With only 19% of our aging population school-aged, Jeffco Schools is seeing enrollment drops most years which also reduces the school’s budget. The school board is already preparing us to expect deeper cuts, of around $43 million, for 2013-2014. These projected cuts would impact the students more directly, by eliminating teacher positions, school librarians, Outdoor Lab, and may bring more school closures. Our school district has done an excellent job of getting public feedback and making spending cuts in ways that minimally affects classroom learning. But with more budget cuts coming and not much left to cut, another way they could improve the budget situation, as we know from balancing our checkbooks, is to find ways to make more money.

One way schools could make money is to sell advertising space the way that newspapers and sports stadiums do. Newspapers provide a valuable service, just as the schools do, but they also make money at the same time by charging for advertisements. Sports venues have been recently been making extra money by selling the naming rights to stadiums and fields. These ideas could be applied to schools. If school districts were to sell naming rights to schools, allowing businesses to invest in them – the same way that, say, Mile High Stadium does – the  schools might be able to bring in a little extra money. It might not be anywhere close to the $150 million Sports Authority is paying out over the next 20 years, but every little bit helps. Perhaps this would give the schools more of an incentive for good test scores; better performing schools would get more publicity and, perhaps, better contracts.

And, speaking of sports arenas, maybe there’s a business that would enjoy sponsoring a local high school’s football or basketball team.

Another marketing arena schools could tap into is selling the space on the side of the yellow school buses for advertising. RTD buses have had advertisements on them for years. Why not put ads on the yellow buses as school districts in other states have begun doing? It’s not too much a leap from selling advertising space on student report cards, which Jefferson County Schools has already done by signing a $90,000 agreement with CollegeInvest.

Offering online classes is working well for charter schools and colleges, and is an option worth considering for public schools too. Online classes would make it possible to reach many more students than is possible in a classroom setting and would require fewer teachers. They would also provide an alternative learning option for students that don’t learn well in social settings.

With an aging population fewer kids enrolling at Jeffco Schools, our budget problems are likely to continue. Some sectors of our economy are thriving, but there’s not a lot of money that struggling homeowners – with underwater mortgages and fears of foreclosure – can spare to pay on higher property taxes. Especially in these hard times, we as parents do not want to compromise on the quality of our children’s education. Our students to be trained with the latest technology and tools that are available to compete in this world, but we need to be able to finance it. It’s time to come up with new solutions to fund our schools. Our children our growing up in a 21^st century world and they need to be taught 21^st century skills. It’s time for some new ideas.