Dr. Ed Richardson
State Superintendent of Education
State Department of Education
P. O. Box 302101
Montgomery, AL 36130-2101
Dear Dr. Richardson:
Obligation, Inc. requests a list
of all state public schools that have a contract that requires
the showing of the Channel One television show.
At present, there appears to
be no accounting, at the state level, for the number of students
who are compelled to watch this TV show during school.
Knowing which schools in Alabama
require Channel One viewing is important information that could
aid state legislators and state agencies in their consideration
of this use of public school time. It will greatly help our organization
as we seek to begin a legitimate statewide public discussion
about the commercialization of our public schools.
If there is no legal requirement
for reporting, then we urge you to seek a voluntary response
from schools.
We believe this request is reasonable
and can be accomplished with the minimum amount of expense. An
entry-level staff person calling each of the school systems and
asking which schools in their system are contractually obligated
to Channel One would take about three hours. Or an extra page
can be added to your routine faxes to school systems.
Alabama taxpayers are subsidizing
this advertising delivery system called Channel One. The people
of our state need to know how large the problem is.
We appreciate your office’s attention
to this request.
Much Obliged,
Jim Metrock
President
