Buying Schools

Excuse my sarcasm, but what is the big deal about having Halliburton pay for a new high school auditorium to be built?  This is not a new thing at all.  Universities do it all the time.  Rich donors give and buildings get named after them... Just go to any campus (public or private)  and take a look at the names of the buildings.


There is a big challenge associated with this, especially for public colleges who have less and less coming from state legislatures.


At our university, we have a building glut so to speak, new buildings are going up constantly, while people are getting laid off.  I have to say its not the fault of the administration.  Its the set up regarding funding... there always seems to be money available for buildings (through the sale of public bonds). Unfortunately there are no public bonds for faculty & staff salaries and student scholarships.


So then, should we ask Halliburton to pay for a few things on campus (college or high school?).  What are the strings attached to this arrangement?

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Steve Lopez: Chevron Auditorium? Halliburton High? Corporate sponsors for L.A. schools is bad idea

December 17, 2010 |  8:20 am

I walked my daughter onto her L.A. Unified campus the other day and saw a fresh face being escorted around by a teacher.


"Who's that?" I asked my girl.


"The new janitor," she said.


Part-time janitor, actually, and so it goes in the LAUSD, which is in the midst of yet another juggling act after dumping 1,000 office aides, library assistants and groundskeepers.


And if you heard about the comments made this week by incoming Gov. Jerry Brown, public education is going to keep getting whacked because of gigantic budget deficits.


Which is why the LAUSD board is considering corporate sponsors to help fill the hole. The sponsors would pay up to $500,000, or more in some cases, to have their names branded on auditoriums, scoreboards and athletic fields.
They couldn't sell specific products, but we could end up with the Bank of America Auditorium at my daughter's elementary school, and the money would be shared by all schools.


Good idea?...more