School turns to advertising on report cards for revenue

With the economy being in the state that it's been for the past few years, people and businesses have had to get creative when it comes to making ends meet. Schools have also been experiencing financial setbacks as well, including the Jefferson County school district in Colorado which is currently facing $70 million in budget cuts. But the folks at Jefferson County have come up with a plan to make up for at least some of those cuts: advertisements on report cards.

From denver.cbslocal.com:

Some parents in Jefferson County won’t only see their child’s grades on their report cards. They’ll also see advertising.
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The ad will appear along the bottom of every elementary school report card for the next three years.

Is it wrong to mix capitalism and advertising with our public education system? Some seem to think this is crossing the line. To alleviate concerns, the school district has currently restricted the advertising to a nonprofit organization known as CollegeInvest. But what's to come in the future, will we be seeing Coke and Pepsi ads on report cards further down the line?

One thing that doesn't seem quite right is the discrepancy between the budget cuts the school is facing and the amount of money these ads are going to pull in, which is a puny $30,000 a year. $30,000 a year is less than the average teacher makes, so....great, these ads on the report cards won't even cover 1 teacher's salary and will barely scratch the surface of the $70 million they're facing in budget cuts. Is it really worth all the bitching and moaning? I say if you're going to do this, go all out. Let's get all kinds of advertising up and down the hallways of the school - advertisers can bid on specific spots, some areas going for more due to the amount of foot traffic. And how about those school buses? City buses have long earned revenue by putting ads on the sides and backside, how about schools doing the same?

And it begs an interesting question, are advertisements harmful to kids? Are they really harmful to anyone? We live in a capitalistic society and as much as we look at advertising as something evil, many of the services we take for granted depend on it almost entirely. I say let's give it a shot, just as long as we don't have advertising reps swarming into schools the way we see the pharmaceutical reps in the doctors offices.