Sen. Paull Shin backs putting ads on school buses to raise money for districts

In the midst of a $2.6 billion state budget shortfall, some legislators are pushing a new way to help fund education: advertisements on school buses.

Advocates say the ads could generate up to $100,000 per year for larger school districts. It's not a huge sum, but every bit counts, said Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, primary sponsor of the Senate bill.

"When I learned that the education budget had been cut so sharply, I almost cried," said Shin, referring to $373 million cuts to K-12 education in Gov. Chris Gregoire's proposed 2010-2011 budget. "I thought about it and thought about it. What could I do? And suddenly I saw a beautiful yellow school bus passing by, without an ad, and I said, 'What an interesting thought.' "

But critics say kids already see too many commercials and that people driving near school buses should be focused on the road, not on ads.

"School buses are yellow for a reason, because experts will tell you that bright yellow grabs people's attention," said House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, speaking on behalf of herself, not her caucus. "I know we need money, so everybody is looking for a port in the storm. I just don't think this is the right port."

The Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee passed Shin's bill 8-6 on Wednesday, and it's expected to be debated by the full Senate this week. The House bill will be considered by the Transportation Committee this week.

Under the proposed law, individual school districts would decide whether to advertise and would keep the revenue. The ads could not be on the front or back of buses and their content would have to follow guidelines to be established by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).

The key to the bill is the local control, OSPI spokesman Nathan Olson said. That office supports the idea, as long as ads don't impede a bus driver's vision and that all food ads contain nutritional guidelines.

Maureen Richmond, a spokeswoman for First Student Inc., a Cincinnati-based company which runs the buses for Seattle Public Schools and five other Washington districts, said the company would consider talking with the districts about putting ads on buses.

The Legislature has taken up the issue before. That 1996 proposal passed the House but failed in the Senate, where Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, chairwoman of the education committee, was an outspoken opponent.

McAuliffe still chairs that committee but now supports the idea and even co-sponsored Shin's bill.

What changed? Districts in other parts of the country have put ads on their buses and not experienced safety problems, she said.

In King County, Metro Transit buses have carried ads since 1973 without safety problems, said spokesman Matt Reichmann.

A spokeswoman for the Colorado Springs School District, which has had ads on its buses since 1993, said they've had "absolutely no incidents related to school-bus advertising."

The district has taken inasmuch as $180,000 per year, said spokeswoman Elaine Naleski.

"Especially at this time, schools need some flexibility in funding," said Rep. Dan Roach, R-Bonney Lake, the ranking Republican on the transportation committee. "I don't see it as a problem at all."

But Bill Williams, executive director of the Washington State Parent Teacher Association, called the bill a "distraction" from the state's constitutional duty to fully fund basic education.

Last week, a King County Superior Court Judge ruled the state is violating that duty by not adequately funding public schools.

Sen. Eric Oemig, D-Kirkland, vice chairman of the education committee, said the Legislature should tax corporations instead of giving them more places to advertise.

"If we have to turn to corporate sponsorship for buses, blackboards and pencils, I think we have a problem," Oemig said.

Brian Rosenthal: 206-464-3195 or brosenthal@seattletimes.com