POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) | Good morning, class, and welcome to U.S. history, brought to you by Molto Caldo Pizzeria.
In a cash-strapped Idaho high school where signs taped near every light switch remind the staff to save electricity, an enterprising teacher has struck a sponsorship deal with a local pizza shop: Every test, handout and work sheet he passes out to his students reads MOLTO’S PIZZA 14” 1 TOPPING JUST $5 in bright red, inch-high letters printed along the bottom of every page.
“I just wanted to find a way to save money,” said Jeb Harrison, who teaches history and economics. “We have to sell ads for our yearbook, for our school newspaper. I don’t think this small amount of advertising will change my classroom.”
School officials were not wild about the idea, but Pocatello High School Principal Don Cotant relented after Mr. Harrison explained that the advertisements could help illuminate such topics as the Great Depression.
“I had concerns. I didn’t know what this would open up for us,” Mr. Cotant said. “But we’ve let this happen because it makes a point about what economic hard times can force people to do.”
As school districts across the country face the worst economic outlook in decades, educators who have long reached into their own pockets to buy classroom supplies are finding creative ways to cover expenses, but hardly any are selling ads on schoolwork.
The 12,000-student school district in and around Pocatello - an old railroad town of about 55,000, where Idaho State University and a semiconductor plant are among the biggest employers - is looking at a shortfall of up to $10 million next year because of expected cuts in state aid. A tax increase was voted down last month, and school officials have frozen spending on field trips, teacher training and basic supplies such as paper.
Molto Caldo Pizzeria agreed to supply paper for Mr. 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.
Mr. Harrison recently handed out photocopies of Dust Bowl images, emblazoned with the pizza ad. The ad also appeared on an economics test he gave last week on the Depression.
“I thought it was a great idea. I mean, the levy didn’t pass. We can’t get enough money from the state. We’ve got to find some way to get it,” said one of Mr. Harrison’s students, Benjamin Simms, 17.
Marianne Donnelly, chairman of the school board, said the ad apparently violates a district policy barring schools from directly promoting businesses. But she said the board considers the ad harmless and is not making an issue out of it.
“Give the teacher credit for creativity,” she said. “There’s no question we’re in desperate financial straits.”
At least one critic of Mr. Harrison’s approach is worried that the idea will spread.
“It crosses a line,” said Susan Linn, a Harvard psychologist and director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. “When teachers start becoming pitchmen for products, children suffer and their education suffers as well.”
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