Thursday, December 4, 2008

The Solution to the Education Budget Crisis!

Governor Gregoire and Superintendent Dorn can thank this guy:

Tom Farber gives a lot of tests. He's a calculus teacher, after all.
So when administrators at Rancho Bernardo, his suburban San Diego high school, announced the district was cutting spending on supplies by nearly a third, Farber had a problem. At 3 cents a page, his tests would cost more than $500 a year. His copying budget: $316. But he wanted to give students enough practice for the big tests they'll face in the spring, such as the Advanced Placement exam.

"Tough times call for tough actions," he says. So he started selling ads on his test papers: $10 for a quiz, $20 for a chapter test, $30 for a semester final.

San Diego magazine and The San Diego Union-Tribune featured his plan just before Thanksgiving, and Farber came home from a few days out of town to 75 e-mail requests for ads. So far, he has collected $350. His semester final is sold out.
As a first grade teacher I can easily see how this could be brought down to my grade level:

"What letter is this, Johnny?"
"P!"
"And what does P stand for...?"
"P'Zone, available only from Pizza Hut!"
"Good boy! Here's a coupon."

The branding opportunities abound. Yay!

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