Lynn educators have mixed reaction on test ads

LYNN – Saddled with the bleak outlook and unpredictability of the fiscal year 2010 budget, teachers, administrators and School Committee members weighed in Monday with differing opinions on one California teacher’s controversial fundraising tactics.
Although Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego is more than 3,000 miles from Lynn, news of math teacher Tom Farber’s unique money-raising idea has reached the eyes and ears of locals, thanks to a flurry of media attention in recent weeks.
Facing a budget crunch and tired of spending hundreds of his own dollars on photocopying quizzes and purchasing supplies, Farber has successfully begun selling advertising space at the bottom of his exams.
According to published reports, Farber has sold out nearly all of his ad space for the year, not just to local businesses, but also to parents who want to include encouraging messages to students at the bottom of the page. He has already collected over $300 from the ads, and says he anticipates breaking $1,000 before the end of the school year.
So, with threats of deep cuts to the state and city budget in coming months, how do local education leaders feel about his unusual tactics, and could teachers in Lynn soon begin soliciting donations for next Monday’s pop quiz?
While School Committee member Donna Coppola called the move “absolutely ridiculous,” Lynn Classical High School history teacher Gregory Washington said he “totally agreed with what the teacher is trying to do.”
Of course, the perspective from inside the classroom is always different than out, but arguments are strong for both sides.
Coppola likened the idea to one that took place in the Lynn schools in the past, when a school that her children were attending put television sets in every classroom to broadcast educational programming and messages from the principals.
“The school was given the TV’s for free, but the catch was they had ads on them,” she said. “The kids would have to watch the advertisement before the message or the program came on. As a parent, I was offended by that. Our kids are exposed to enough advertisement when they aren’t in the classroom.”
For Washington, the ads are a creative way to fund what has become a very expensive endeavor for teachers. In Farber’s case, he claims copying tests and quizzes for his 167 students costs him more than $500 per year.
“If the state does not have enough money to educate the students, do we let them go out unprepared while other students around the country are educated in an area that has enough,” asked Washington. “The teacher is just trying to level the playing field for his students when they go to compete with other students trying to get in to college.”
Washington went on to say that he supports the idea because it includes parents and the community in the education of children, which could raise awareness of the larger problem of funding education.
“The citizens are aware of the problem and have the choice of giving in a time of need or turning their back,” he said. “Isn’t that what businesses are doing with the federal government right now? Instead of education, which needs the funding, the big three automakers are asking to pay for bad management over the years. What is the better investment?”
School Committee Chairman Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. says that he does not necessarily have a problem with the ads – a practice he points out is already taking place in Lynn on athletic banquet and event programs – but stresses that selling space on tests will not solve the larger budget problems facing the schools.”It is voodoo economics,” he said. “You can’t enter into a contract based on ad revenue that may or may not be there. This is a gimmick idea, I would say that it shows innovation wanting to do more for the kids, but it doesn’t – it can’t substantiate having to generate funding and tax revenue for the budget.”
While placing advertisements on a test does raise ethical questions as well, school brass s