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Opinion
Commentary: Ads on school buses a sad commentary about the EISD
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
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Although those on both sides of the Eanes school board’s approval of placing advertisements on the district school buses make valid arguments, the idea of selling moving billboards is a bitter pill to swallow.
Commercialization of sports venues is one thing, but having the school district viewed by passersby as one that will do anything for a buck is nothing short of sad.
The school board is comprised of volunteers who selflessly dedicate time, but this action doesn’t speak well for the board as a whole. It appears to say that they are willing to sacrifice the dignity of the district to save the time and effort of finding more palatable ways to balance the budget.
We applaud board members Colleen Jones, Clint Sayers and Jim Strickland for voting against the measure. Although Ellen Balthazar, James Kallison, Robert Durkee and Paul Stone made good points about desperate times requiring desperate measures like this commercialization of district property, it is difficult to believe that teachers would have to be fired unless we stoop to this level.
The school board is comprised of extremely intelligent people who are quite adept at looking at each line item in the budget and determining what can be either eliminated or achieved in a more economically feasible way. It may require board members to make the commitment to do more homework on the budget, but we are certain that, cumulatively, this board has the capacity to get the job done.
Eanes staff indicated that, by the fifth year of drumming up business for bus ads, the district could see revenue of $150,000 annually. But that projection may be an idealistic one, because it may be tougher than they think to sell the idea when buses are essentially on the roads only a few hours a day and in full operation for only nine months of the year.
The dissenting school board members voiced concerns about the cost of possible lawsuits arising from companies turned down as advertisers, which should have been another cause for those favoring the idea to rethink their position.
Strickland made a valid point about the idea. Desperate times that force such commercialization may be on the horizon, but we simply aren’t there yet.
The concern of lawsuits is not supported by the facts. Other school districts have been selling ads on school buses for years without fear of lawsuits. Eanes schools already sell advertising throughout the year on school websites, at carnivals, and at sporting events.
Mr. Allen is also concerned with the lack of dignity, or appearing undignified. But Capital Metro would disagree with that claim, who sells advertising on their buses. Bus ads have not harmed their dignity, or caused Capital Metro to relinquish important decisions to the advertisers. Selling bus ads is no less dignified than the EEF begging parents to donate cash.
In summary, this editorial makes an emotional appeal, which is a logical fallacy. On the other hand, supporters of school bus advertising have the courage to face reality: Eanes needs to raise more revenue, and most Eanes residents are already overtaxed.
While she has her hands out begging for more money, ask Nola Wellman how many classroom dollars she spent to sue the TEA Commissioner. The law suit failed this week. Thousands of Eanes ISD education dollars in the pockets of private attorneys and for what purpose? To override the authority of teachers to grade accurately. Eanes (and its cohort of Houston area districts) lost the lawsuit this week. What do the districts have in common? The private law firm of course, and superintendents with money to burn.
Check out the district’s new cohort:
“The school districts suing state Education Commissioner Robert Scott were Klein, Fort Bend, Aldine, Alief, Anahuac, Clear Creek, Humble, Deer Park, Eanes, Dickinson and Livingston.”
http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/06/minimum-grading.html
Instead of ‘having the courage’ to deface our public school buses with tacky advertisements, our district leaders should focus their attention on taking a closer look at where the money we have already raised has gone. Share the findings with the community. Have the courage to admit the money is there, and is being spent recklessly to support frivolous and irresponsible whims.
Why was the transportation director focused on school bus advertising in Colorado when a few school districts in Texas already have this in place? Why doesNola Wellman continue to refer back to the practices found in her old stomping grounds? Why did a Houston firm get the contract for the school bus signs and why didn’t we bid this contract out so that local businesses would have a shot at the contract? Why hasn’t the district earmarked the earnings for a specified expense? Is this going to be another jumbotron debacle? This was found on the website of the company that will be handling the accounts. Follow the money.
Q: Are school bus ads the only advertising opportunity offered by Steep Creek Media?
A: Steep Creek Media secures advertising for many venues, including sponsorship of athletic stadiums, as well as banners, signage and video commercials for stadiums, gyms, other athletic facilities and equipment, and school district web site advertising.
Our trustees and administrators have their heads so far under the sand that it has officially become embarrassing. EISD, like every other district in Texas, is out of money. Deal with it, trustees. Our legislature is not going to fix school finance; they are Republicans, and they like “starving the beast.” And they LOVE the entire specter of “Robin Hood” which pits rich against poor. So when I hear Kal Kallison say at a school trustee meeting something along the lines of “we can spend the rainy day fund because the legislature will have to address this in the next 2 or 3 years” it shows that he is ignoring history.
The Texas legislature will not fix school finance any time soon.
So EISD has to figure out how to educate children on the money we have available. Putting ads on buses is not going to close the budget gap. Our trustees should be focusing on instruction first. Fund academics. Let the parents and community of Eanes figure out how to fund sports beyond the basics, fund extra-curricular activities, fund the band, fund the rest of the nice to haves.
Kids today need solid academics. 30 kids in a classroom? No thanks. I’ll take my kids to a private school where they focus first on teaching him to compete with the kids in China and India, not on how they can field a 5A football team.
Get your heads out of the…….sand….Trustees! You’re out of money. Deal with it! And stop thinking about ways to find mythical pockets of $150,000 that come with no cost of sale. You’re fiddling, and there is a man with a match at the gates of Rome.