Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Teacher Campaigning Against Advertising Mailer Sent by Mall : Education: Instructor says ads are disrespectful. Valencia Town Center officials call them lighthearted.

A Saugus High School teacher has mounted a campaign against an advertising mailer distributed by the Valencia Town Center, which she says is disrespectful to educators.

The 12-page ad featuring products sold at the regional shopping center’s 110 stores was mailed to residents six weeks ago. Linda Margulies, a government teacher in the William S. Hart Union High School District, said two of the ads are offensive.

On one page, a blond-haired boy is shown sitting in a chair with a blue paper airplane in one hand and animated planes soaring above him. “Boy, substitute teachers let you get away with anything,” he says.

Another ad shows a girl with a basket of apples in her lap. “Giving the teacher one apple is a bribe,” she says. “I consider this an insurance policy.”

Margulies said the ads imply a teacher can be bribed.

“I just immediately had an angry reaction,” said Margulies, who has written letters protesting the mailer to a local newspaper. “It’s not easy being a teacher in today’s society. It’s so hard to feel unsupported by so many segments of society and then to get this in the mail.”

A mall official was surprised at Margulies’ complaints.

“The mailer was a fun, very lighthearted back-to-school piece designed to invite people into the mall,” said Kathleen Gill, marketing manager for the Valencia Town Center. “It certainly had no negative intent implied.”

Gill said mailers are regularly sent to about 55,000 residents before peak retail times such as holidays or sales. Margulies’ protest is the only negative reaction to the mailer.

“Maybe I’m missing something, but I’m not offended by this,” said Gary Weiss, a substitute teacher who lives in Valencia. “I smiled at the comments and didn’t think anything more about it.”

Other ads in the mailer were just as playfully irreverent, but did not take aim at teachers. In one, a young woman is shown with a shoe balanced on her head. “Maybe I need to rethink the hat,” she says. A girl in pigtails and glasses says, “Boys always make passes at girls with glasses.”

Margulies said she doesn’t want the Valencia Town Center to promote anti-teacher messages.

“It’s painful to see the teaching profession denigrated by the local mall,” said Margulies, who has previously worked as a substitute instructor in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The mall plans no changes in its advertising policies as a result of the protest. Gill said ads for the Valencia Town Center are reviewed by at least six people to check for offensive content before distribution.

“I certainly know that teaching is a tremendous challenge and appreciate the integrity and energy it takes to work with children every day,” Gill said.