On some days, Pungente has issued as many as three bulletins, each one three pages long. One of the other so-called partners is Gage Publishing, a major supplier of textbooks to elementary schools across Canada. He quickly assured me that his only relationship with Athena is that of a supplier of software. He explained that his company is anxious not to alienate its established customers. This latest YNN initiative serves to crystallize the moral question around corporate involvement in public education.
Corporate involvement is primarily self-interested involvement.
Given the fact that schooling is compulsory, we are, in effect, compelling students to be the subjects of a marketing campaign. The students will be confronted by strategically placed vending machines in the cafeteria and hallways. They will probably have corporate logos painted on their gym walls. They may also be wearing school team uniforms with the same corporate logo, and if they are students at the last school at which I taught, they may even see some of their teachers wearing sweatshirts with that ubiquitous logo on the front. This is also about building a customer base.