“Selling Our Schools? Principals’ Views on Schoolhouse Commercialism and School-Business Interactions”

Businesses and schools frequently interact in a variety of spheres. Much of the literature written during the 1980s on school-business interaction is positive and suggests that schools benefit from a corporate presence. More recently, the literature on schoolbusiness interaction has become critical and suggests that businesses sometimes exploit schools in these relationships. This study enriches this debate by examining the views of public school principals in Pennsylvania with regard to the involvement of corporations in public schools in the following spheres: sponsored events, exclusive agreements, incentive programs, marketing in school, sponsored educational materials, and direct sales and fund-raising. The findings suggest that school principals in Pennsylvania are largely ambivalent or slightly positive about commercial involvement: a perception that leaves both supporters and critics of commercial involvement opportunities to inform and persuade.