VENTURA : Educators Reject TV Broadcast

The Ventura Unified School District board on Tuesday rejected broadcasting of Channel One, a news program for schoolchildren that includes commercials, into district classrooms this fall.

In its second consideration of the program in less than two months, the board voted 3 to 2 against the proposal to allow Channel One to be viewed daily in classrooms at Buena and Ventura high schools.

Board members Barbara Myers, May Lee Berry and Vincent Ruiz voted against Channel One. John Walker and Terence Kilbride voted for it.

The 12-minute news program includes two minutes of commercials for products ranging from candy bars to athletic shoes. Schools that sign up for the program receive leased televisions and other equipment.

Because of the commercial portion of Channel One, however, Bill Honig, state superintendent of public instruction, the California School Boards Assn. and the state PTA have opposed the program.

Channel One has been discussed before the board for several months. When it first came up for a vote on May 28, board member John Walker moved to approve it, but his motion died for lack of a second.

At Tuesday’s meeting, as at past meetings, some teachers and parents spoke strongly in favor of Channel One, arguing that it will make students more aware of current news events and other cultures and countries.

But other faculty and parents, including PTA leaders, argued vehemently against the program, saying it cuts into instructional time, takes away from teacher-student contact, and offers information that students could get watching the television news at home or reading newspapers or news magazines.

The Greater Ventura Chamber of Commerce, whose members viewed the program, wrote a letter to the school board urging that it reconsider the program, chamber Executive Vice President Jim Barroca said.

Two bills before the state Legislature propose to ban programs that broadcast commercials into schools, said William L. Rukeyser, special assistant to Honig. Even without the bills, he said, state education officials believe that state law prohibits local school districts from allowing commercials to be played in classrooms.