Jeff Winkler | March 26, 2009
The recession is affecting everybody, even those in the beloved Gem State. One Idaho teacher, however, has found a creative way to cut costs—sponsorship:
Molto Caldo Pizzeria, about a mile from [Pocatello High School], agreed to supply paper for [Jacob] Harrison's five classes—10,000 sheets, valued at $315, and imprinted with a pizza ad. That should be enough paper for the rest of this school year and all of the next one.
The school is expecting a $10 million dollar shortfall and there's a spending freeze on teacher training, field trips and basic supplies. Harrison's idea hasn't raised many objections from school officials or students, although it "crosses a line" for a Harvard psychologist 2,000 miles away. Said expert sez children and educators "suffer" when teachers become pitchmen. Though it certainly seems preferable to schools going belly up.
This isn't the first case of teachers selling out their students in the name of education:
Earlier this school year in San Diego, Rancho Bernardo High School math instructor Tom Farber allowed students' parents and local businesses to pay $10 to print messages on quizzes, $20 for space on tests and $30 for final exams.
Reason contributor Laura Vanderkam wrote about prep students earning their keep. Contributor Johnathan Blanks discussed the buying power of good grades; Associate Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward examined for-profit schools.
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Exactly what kind of business wants their name associated with an exam besides drugstores selling Advil and Tums?
I wonder if this is one of the "no unhealthy foods" schools? Pizza is very fatty.
Didn't the ad on the test wisely come with a coupon for the
pizzeria? I thought I read that somewhere. So, really the business
owner was just marketing. He would have had to print coupons on
paper of some sort anyway, why not hit your target market. If he
also cares about student performance:
"Bring in your finished test sheet and get $2 off a large pie, free
garlic knots for an A!"
I think it would be more interesting if the tests were printed on pizza. I'd be like a Scantron, but you'd eat the pepperoni off all the wrong answers instead of filling in the right one.
Harrison's idea hasn't raised many objections from school
officials or students, although it "crosses a line" for a Harvard
psychologist 2,000 miles away.
Fucking pointy-headed know-it-all East Coast meddlers.
This reeks of corporatism. Yeah, start 'em at an early age,
subjecting them with continuous subliminal advertising.
A better idea would be to imprint the paper with advertisements for
the school. Duh.
Fucking pointy-headed know-it-all East Coast
meddlers.
That's pretty much why federalism is dead. They were content (for a
while) turning their own states into cesspools, but once they
reached the perfection of idiocy that is Massachussets, it was only
logical that they turn their eyes towards empire...
Fools!!! They will be turned into mindless yuppie corporate shills!
Fucking pointy-headed know-it-all East Coast
meddlers.
Hey, let's not forget California. But I am second to none in my
scorn for Massholes.
Exactly what kind of business wants their name associated
with an exam besides drugstores selling Advil and Tums?
Kaplan test prep.
Geometry for Dummies.
Cliff Notes.
(uses aqua man powers to ride a dolphin around danger
area)
Whhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Anybody else here as sick of Naga's magicangeldolphin solution to everything as I am?
SugarFree,
I never thought about it but I do tend to veer towards the Stephen
King impractical endings. Gotta have god/magic do the hard work for
ya.
Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
(stows aboard passing Russian sub)
I have never gotten the fetus splashing out onto the deck shot out of my brain. Thanks for refreshing it, asshole.
(raises hand to Epi's question)
That would be me sir. I thought it was fascinating how lame movie
rip offs can be so damn entertaining.
I'm out. I gotta get me some of that soup, salad, and breadsticks from Olive Garden. As much as I hate the place their lunch is decent.
I gotta get me some of that soup, salad, and breadsticks
from Olive Garden. As much as I hate the place their lunch is
decent.
If you could just go to O G for the salad and breadsticks, and then
go someplace else and have a nice filet...
The sword and the Sorcerer holy crap, talk about a name drop
from the 80's!!
What about KRULL?
Krull kicked ass when I saw it in the theater as a kid, but you try and watch it now and it is Legend slow.
If we could just charge the students directly somehow. Not a
tax, 'cuz that's too hard to get through congress, but some sort of
a fee. We could call it "tuition", and let parents opt out of the
school if they didn't want to pay it. I think that might be a
solution.
Reason contributor Laura Vanderkam wrote about prep students earning their keep.
The Montessori system has this for the upper grades. Most
Montessori schools are just preschool through sixth grade, but a
few go up through highschool. Those upper grades have farms or a
shop that can be self-supporting. That's the difference between
government and private schools. Government schools expect you to
graduate totally dependent on the government for subsistance, while
private schools expect you to graduate into responsible
adulthood.
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