Should NY Allow Schools To Sell Ads, Sponsors and Naming Rights?
It's well known that school districts, teachers and schools all over the country struggle to give our children the best education they can with very limited funds. Being married to a teacher I know we invest our own money into school supplies and classroom products. Why? Because most school districts just don't have the budget to pay for everything.
According to a story in www.nyup.com New York schools could raise millions of dollars without raising taxes. All it would take is a change in the New York state law that prohibits the selling. in any form, of commercial advertising on school property. That includes stadium naming rights and advertising on school buses.
There are plenty of states that allow advertising and they are bringing in a lot of school funding. Now, obviously you have to set guidelines as to what can be advertised. You're not going to sell school bus advertising for Bud Light Seltzer.
Here are a couple of examples of other school districts that are benefiting from selling advertising and naming rights.
The 3,000-student Gloucester, Massachusetts school district sold naming rights to outdoor athletic facilities for $500,000 over ten years to New Balance, the athletic shoe company.
In Texas, a pediatric hospital will pay $2.5 million over 10 years for athletic facility naming rights at a 7,000-student district outside Dallas. www.nyup.com
So, what do you think? Should New York change the law to allow advertising on school property? I think it could really help out the struggling school districts. Plus, then teachers might not have to shell out their hard earned money to pay for school supplies they should already have provided for them.