Tuesday, May 24, 2011

California Schools Cut Costs with Advertising, Energy Reductions

Partnering with Energy Education is one of the ways school districts such as California’s San Juan Unified and Sacramento City Unified have been cutting utility costs in an effort to save programs like sports and after-school clubs, and keep teachers employed. An article in the Sacramento Bee highlighted the program’s assistance—Energy Ed helped San Juan save 16 to 17 percent of the district’s annual energy bill. Following suit, Sacramento signed a 4 ½-year contract in 2009.

“If they are helping us save money, that helps us save jobs that keep teachers in classrooms and sports in schools,” Gabe Ross, district spokesman for Sacramento City Unified, told the publication.

The article also discussed how area school districts have begun looking into advertising as a way to raise much-needed funds. For the same cost-cutting reasons, the schools have also hired Education Funding Partners, a company that is trying to sign enough school districts to make advertising in gymnasiums and cafeterias attractive to big companies with larger allowances, like Apple, Sprint and Adidas. Schools are no strangers to advertising, but Education Funding Partners is hoping to bring it to a much larger scale—billboards, not yearbook ads. In light of recent budget cuts, schools could use the money, and districts are quickly becoming more receptive to alternative ideas for fundraising. 

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