School, Sponsored by (Your Company Here)

Aug. 22, 2005 — -- For 30 years, George Dodson worked in the Plymouth-Canton schools as a teacher, counselor and principal. Now well into his 70s, he's been retired for 15 years but still visits with fifth-graders before they move to middle school and reads stories to younger children.

"They all know me there," Dodson said of the students. "When I walk in, I'm pretty popular there, and I think they'll carry that with them."

The upper middle-class district in suburban Detroit named a new school after him in 2001, George Dodson Elementary, to recognize his years of service. "It is an honor, and I'm very happy about it," said Dodson, who lives in Plymouth, Mich.

But thanks to a unanimous vote by the district's school board in June, another elementary school under construction may soon boast the name of a corporation rather than an educator.

In recent years, school districts have sold ads on buses and naming rights for things such as athletic fields and playgrounds. But districts like Plymouth-Canton and Philadelphia are taking the practice a step further by seeking sponsors for the schools themselves. Faced with tight budgets, officials say it's necessary to seek outside funding to be able to provide programs for their students.

"We wanted to let the community know that we're serious about providing the best education possible and doing that in a way that allows alternative funding sources," said Tom Sklut, chief development officer of Plymouth-Canton Community Schools.

But some watchdogs believe the move would be the height of commercialism in the one place where children should be able to avoid it. "I think it's a terribly sad commentary on the state of education and also the state of this country's public support for public institutions," said Susan Linn, a psychologist and author of "Consuming Kids: Protecting Our Children from the Onslaught of Marketing & Advertising."

Schools' partnering with a variety of companies is nothing new, said Bill Chipps, senior editor of IEG Sponsorship Report. Soft drink companies provide beverages, ads are sold on textbook covers and corporations sponsor plays with educational themes, as well as athletic fields.

Chipps said the latest move to sell naming rights follows a trend in municipal marketing, where public property like parks and transportation departments are sponsored by private entities as a way to raise money without increasing taxes. "We see more and more schools kind of explore these public-private partnerships as a way to raise funds," Chipps said.