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When the going gets tough.... Tom Farber, a teacher at a suburban San Diego school, has sold out his ad inventory for the year. That's pretty good in this economy.
When Farber's school district "announced the district was cutting spending on supplies by nearly a third, [he] had a problem. At 3 cents a page, his tests would cost more than $500 a year. His copying budget: $316," found USA Today. "But he wanted to give students enough practice for the big tests they'll face in the spring, such as the Advanced Placement exam. 'Tough times call for tough actions,' he says. So he started selling ads on his test papers: $10 for a quiz, $20 for a chapter test, $30 for a semester final."
The ads are not the likes of McDonalds or Nike, rather, local dentists or an engineering firm, but those worried about the commercialization of schools are concerned. Farber shouldn't have to put his own money down--the average teacher spends $430 of their own money each year--but does he have any other choices?
h/t California Faultline | Photo by orangeacid via Flickr
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As an educator, I find this ingenious, hilarious, and a little sad--not sad that he chose to do this but that this is just sort of emblematic of this kind of problem that happens in all levels of education. I am limited to how many real "photo copies" I can make on the real photocopier we have, including how many copies per master. We chiefly use an ailing "Risograph" machine, and it's plastered with signs cautioning us that if we abuse our copying privilege it will be taken out of our hands and we'll have to "order" all our copies. I've definitely had to go out of pocket for this and other supplies--I wasn't even able to get a box of industrial issue Kleenex last year when I could have before. "It's not related to instruction" I was told. What's next, I bring my own toilet paper, too?
Well, that sucks as a solution, I feel his pain. Between my teacher mom and teacher finacee I can't even begin to track how much more money I donate to their school systems every year.
Its pretty sad when you can make a teacher excited by buying them a pack of their favorite non-red pens for grading. (Silly rule - no red pens for correction marking)
that's pretty nuts, but i get why he's doing it.
it is a tough time for schools right now. my english teacher told us this week that she couldn't make any more paper copies at LACC anymore because of the budget. to put it bluntly, it's fucked up. :(
LAUSD has such a huge budget yet it never trickles down to the students