Scholastic’s Commercialization of Classrooms Runs Much Deeper than Coal

Editor's Note: This blog post is written by Josh Golin, associate director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. His organization is leading the effort end Scholastic's "InSchool Marketing" of corporate and industry materials. You can sign their petition to add your support, or leave a note on Scholastic's Facebook wall.

For years, Scholastic has exploited its privileged position in schools to serve as Trojan horse for all sorts of inappropriate marketing.  But a couple of weeks ago, the company got caught red-handed when a campaign led by CCFC and Rethinking Schools exposed the fact that the self-proclaimed “most trusted name in learning” was distributing one-sided teaching materials in schools paid for by the coal industry.  After extensive protests by advocates for education and the environment, Scholastic pulled the materials and vowed to review its policies and editorial procedures on all sponsored classroom materials.

As Scholastic conducts its review, CCFC is urging its members and anyone concerned about the commercialization of education to weigh in.  In a petition hosted on Change.org and CCFC’s website, more than 50,000 parents and teachers have already urged Scholastic to stop distributing all corporate and industry-sponsored teaching materials and shutter its controversial InSchool Marketing program.

Here’s how the program works: Corporations pay to create teaching materials designed to further “client interests” and create “brand awareness” and “consumer loyalty.”  The materials are packaged and distributed by Scholastic as learning opportunities for students, often touting alignment with national standards.  The program has been used to market everything from ice cream to television programming in children’s classrooms.

Scholastic isn’t the only one responsible for the presence of Sponsored Educational Materials in schools, but its reach and reputation into schools are unrivaled.  The company claims that 92% of teachers use its program.  According to the Executive Director of the American Coal Foundation, hiring Scholastic allowed ACF to dramatically increase its presence in schools—from about 7,000 to 70,000 classrooms.  “Four out of five parents know and trust the Scholastic brand,” she explained.

So what’s the problem?  Well, for one, sponsored materials are notoriously lacking in objectivity.  A review by Consumers Union of seventy-seven corporate-sponsored classroom kits found nearly 80% to be biased or incomplete, “promoting a viewpoint that favors consumption of the sponsor’s product or service or a position that favors the company or its economic agenda.”  Scholastic claimed its coal industry-funded materials aligned with national standards because they taught “that different types of energy (e.g., solar, fossil fuels) have different advantages and disadvantages.”  But while the lessons did extol the advantages of coal, but they failed to mention a single disadvantage – not one word about its impact on the environment and human health.

And Scholastic’s in-school commercialization runs much deeper than coal.  Two years ago, amidst heightened concerns about childhood obesity, Scholastic was hired by Nestle to promote Nestle Push-Up Ice Cream.  Promoted as meeting national standards for grades 2-4 in language arts and math, Scholastic’s Creativity Power Push curriculum urged students to visit a branded website and enter a contest by creating their own design for Push-Up tubes. Similarly, for the past two years, Scholastic has extensively promoted the SunnyD Book Spree, in which teachers are urged to throw parties featuring the sugar-laden beverage in classrooms in order to earn free Scholastic books for their schools.  Scholastic has also teamed with Cartoon Network and Disney to promote new television programming in preschools, in spite of the fact that excessive screen time is linked to poor academic performance.

Promoting its “client objectives” to a captive student audience isn’t education; it’s predatory marketing.  And now that parents and educators know about its InSchool Marketing division, Scholastic faces an important choice.  Its value to corporations comes from its reputation with parents and educators and its access to students.  But by selling out kids, Scholastic is severely tarnishing its reputation and jeopardizing its privileged position in schools.

“It is absolutely horrifying to me, as a mother, an educator, and a PTA board member, that a trusted, child-friendly company like Scholastic would knowingly sell our children's minds to the highest bidder,” wrote Christine George of Virginia Beach, Virginia when she signed the Change.org petition.  “Be advised that if this policy doesn't change, I will actively campaign to have Scholastic’s materials removed and banned from my children's schools and school districts.”

According to Scholastic, only “a tiny percentage” of its classroom materials are sponsored so making the ethical choice is also the smart business decision. We know that Scholastic is listening right now.  So please join us in telling them to stop pushing corporate PR in children’s classrooms.

Photo credit: Read Every Day via Flickr