This idea a dead end

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008 | 2:09 a.m.

Reeling from state-imposed budget cuts of more than $130 million, Clark County School District officials are warming to the idea of turning their food-service trucks into rolling advertisements.

They believe they are taking the high road by declaring that school buses will remain free of ads. In one sense they are right, as many district officials across the country, financially desperate because of waning public support, have caved in on the bus issue.

The Clark County School Board reiterated its bus policy last week. But it also cast a unanimous vote to research the possibility of adopting a pilot program for advertising on its tractor-trailer food trucks.

We agree with the School Board, and critics of school bus advertising in general, that students should not be subjected to publicly authorized private marketing on their way to and from school. It is getting out of hand in many districts, with ads posted inside and outside buses and special programming developed by marketing companies broadcast over bus sound systems.

Children on their way to school should be respected as students, not regarded as targets for merchandisers.

But vowing to keep ads off school buses does not mean the trend of mixing ads with education is any less disturbing. Future school boards could easily amend the bus policy, particularly with their budgets increasingly under attack. It is a disgrace that school districts find themselves in this situation.

Our view is that many districts will come to regret their venture into the advertising world. As reported by the Las Vegas Sun’s Emily Richmond, the chief financial officer of the School District, Jeff Weiler, has promised the district would retain “total editorial control” over the ads.

But courts have ruled repeatedly that commercial speech is protected by the First Amendment. It is almost inevitable that some advertisers will someday take districts to court, insisting their ads, no matter how inappropriate for students, cannot be banned.

This is one road School District vehicles do not want to travel.