National Reading Incentive Program this year. Financially strapped and desperate to spice up their curriculums, teachers may find irresistible the slick materials from the likes of Tootsie Roll and Disney jamming their mailboxes. Everyone needs one of those sometimes, but you have to be discreet about what you are showing. Where some see students, others see captive consumers. Brian Bice, president of Jordan Education Media in Portland, Oregon, which has developed programs for Disney and Hi-C, says it is naive to think businesses will just write checks to help out schools.
Some teachers are grateful for the freebies.
This connects to their prior learning. The National PTA and the National Education Association, among others, are alarmed about the trend and are pressing for new guidelines. Meantime, it is up to individual teachers to recognize the junk in their junk mail.