Corporate sponsorships a source of revenue for school district

I have to say that when I first heard of the idea by the Middletown Board of Education, to seek corporate sponsorships for the school system I was very sceptical. The idea of selling the naming rights to the cafeterias and hallway did not seem to me as such a good idea.

Our kids today are bombarded with to many advertisements that shape and manipulate their choices, from the clothes and shoes that they wear, to the snacks and drinks that they consume. At this stage of their lives (K-12 grade) kids are very susceptible to outside influences and parents today must watch closely to ensure that those influences do not become negative or in some way harm their child's development.

So when I saw that article, buried several pages inside of the Independent this week that reported the BOE had entered into an agreement with Corporate Marketing Associates (CMA) to seek corporate sponsorships to the school system I had to read it.

 I am now happy to report that I am not as upset over it as I could have been. It seems as though sponsorships will more or less be limited to signs at the high school fields,  flags on Web sites, or pages in an ad journal and not the selling out of the Middletown schools themselves. 

Click on the headline to read the article in this weeks Independent