Partnerships a Reality
In BC, a long-standing healthy relationship has existed between the business community and public schools. Through business education, consumer education, and work experience, schools and teachers interact with local business people to build public support and help students understand business and the role business plays in the community.
Captive Market
The education funding squeeze has brought the issue of education/business partnerships to the fore. Some businesses are pressuring cash-strapped schools to allow access to students.The BCTF wants to ensure that business partnerships do not violate the integrity of public schooling or take advantage of students as a captive market. That’s why teachers adopted guidelines for education/business partnerships.
BCTF Policy on Education/Business Partnerships
Education/business partnerships should not be established to compensate for inadequate funding of education.
(a) Programs of corporate involvement meet an identified educational purpose, not a commercial motive.
(b) Ethical standards (developed by the BCTF) that protect the welfare of students and the integrity of the learning environment are agreed to and followed by all parties.
(c) Sponsored teaching resources and materials are evaluated for bias before they are used, and teachers retain discretion in the use of the materials; sponsored and donated materials are held to the same standards used for the selection and purchase of curricular materials.
(d) Corporate involvement does not require students to observe, listen to, or read advertising. Sponsor recognition and corporate logos, for identification rather than commercial purposes, are kept to a minimum.
(e) Corporate involvement does not increase inequality in the education system. Money and other donations are made to school districts, to be administered centrally, not to individual schools.
(f) Partnership agreements are reached after full discussion among participating school staff, parent representatives, and the prospective partner, and any agreements are open as public information.
(g) Partnership agreements are for a limited time.
(h) All partnership agreements are systematically evaluated.
(i) Teacher and student participation in partnerships is voluntary.
Ethical Standards
- Statement of Ethical Standards
for Education/Business Partnerships
1. The partnership enhances the quality and relevance of education for learners.
2. The direct and indirect impact of the partnership does not exploit the school or the student for material, ideological, or other advantage, and it has a positive impact on a student’s school or personal life.
3. The partnership treats students fairly and equitably, including at-risk students and those who have less access to resources from family and community; business partnerships do not reduce corporate obligations to pay their fair share of taxes to support public institutions.
4. The partnership does not increase inequality in the education system, and resources derived from partnerships are administered centrally.
5. The partnership provides opportunities for all partners to meet their shared social responsibilities toward education.
6. The partnership is free of stereotyping and discriminatory practices against women, ethnic groups, First Nations people, and members of other groups who have been subject to inequity.
7. The partnership ensures that corporate logos do not appear in any educational materials or school buildings and grounds.
8. Acknowledgement of each partner’s contribution is appropriate, and includes logos or other forms of organizational recognition only if agreed to by the school and its community, including students, staff, and parents.
9. The partnership allocates resources to complement, not replace, public funding for education.
10. The partnership is developed and structured in consultation with all partners and respects the policies, procedures, and traditions operating in the school.
11. The partnership clearly defines roles and responsibilities for all partners and involves individual participants only on a voluntary basis.
12. The partnership does not conflict with teachers’ obligations under the BCTF Code of Ethics or provisions of a collective agreement.
13. Partnership performance is evaluated to make informed decisions on continuation of the partnership.
These policies and standards are based on research of similar policies considered in other jurisdictions in Canada, including a review of the extensive work done by the Conference Board of Canada on this issue. We hope that school districts, boards of school trustees, and the business community will consider these guidelines when entering into partnerships at the school or district level.
To order additional copies of this brochure or other BCTF publications, call the BCTF Communications Department.
| The British Columbia Teachers’ Federation is 44,000 teachers, working together to achieve goals adopted by its founders more than 80 years ago: to promote the cause of education, to raise the status of the teaching profession, and to promote the welfare of teachers. |