The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says that its conference on “business-education partnerships” is to help create “opportunities for companies seeking to improve their support for K-12 education.”
While nearly all would agree that most schools need more “support,” much of what is called “business-education partnerships” really is plain old corporate marketing, sometimes dressed up with nominal gifts; or else it is public relations, in using schools to boost a corporation’s sagging public image.
Regrettably, in the last fifteen years, corporations have increasingly rejected the notion of philanthropy, in which they give money to schools because it is the right thing to do. Instead, business groups like yours are touting “business-education partnerships” which often involve using schools as public relations props or as marketing arenas to address a captive audience of children. The purpose is not so much to improve education, as it is to increase the sales of junk food and drinks such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi. It is the opposite of philanthropy, but it seems to be the dominant model for so-called “business-education partnerships.”
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