Los Angeles Schools to Seek Corporate Sponsors

[alp227]

LOS ANGELES — The football field at a public school here, in the second largest school district in the country, soon may be brought to students by Nike.

Facing another potential round of huge budget cuts, the Los Angeles school board unanimously approved a plan on Tuesday night to allow the district to seek corporate sponsorships as a way to get money to the schools.

The district is not the first to look for private dollars as a way to close public budget gaps — districts in Sheboygan, Wis., and Midland, Tex., for example, have offered up naming rights for their stadiums for years. But the Los Angeles school district is by far the largest to do so, and officials say the plan could generate as much as $18 million for the schools.

In the past three years, the Los Angeles Unified School District has cut $1.5 billion from its operating budget, now down to $5.4 billion. As recently as last month, 1,000 more employees lost their jobs in layoffs. And Governor-elect Jerry Brown suggested Tuesday at a budget forum that schools could expect more drastic cuts when he presents a new state budget next month.

“This is really our way to be responsive to that reality; we need to look for other sources of revenue,” said Melissa Infusino, the director of partnerships for the district. “As uncomfortable as it may be for folks, it’s less comfortable to get rid of programs or go through more layoffs.”

Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/education/16naming.html

[rucky]

1. I'd love to see Marlboro & Coors Light get on board with this.

[ixion]

2. Hi, and Welcome to English 100, brought to you by Carl's Jr.

a sad day for education, indeed.

[Auggie]

3. Bet we'll never see "Trojan Stadium..."

but it would be appropriate.

[Hannah Bell]

4. Pitiful. Anti-democratic. Fascist.