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Proposal would designate Pepsi the sole cola of SJUSD
By Jessica Lyons
When it comes to choice, San Jose school board members are hoping they made the right one, baby. At a recent meeting, board members agreed to a proposal for a deal with Pepsi that would bring in more than $5 million over 10 years.
A formal contract that would give Pepsi exclusive beverage-selling rights to San Jose students and administrators will be brought to the school board for approval within the next few weeks.
If the deal gets the go-ahead, Coke drinkers will be forced to switch loyalties or bring their own soda from home.
Pepsi will also be allowed to advertise their products on vending machines and scoreboards.
School board members, who voted 4-1 to endorse the proposal, say the deal would bring needed money into San Jose's low-funded schools.
"Soft drinks are going to be in schools' vending machines regardless, and we do need the additional funds," board president Carol Myers says, adding that a contract with Pepsi would make the already existing vending machines on school property more profitable.
Based on the agreement, PepsiCo Inc. will pay San Jose Unified $995,000 over 10 years for the exclusive rights to sell Pepsi drinks. Pepsi brands of soda, fruit juices and water will be sold on school grounds as well. The district also will receive a minimum yearly commission of $250,000. The more drinks sold, however, the higher the commission will be. The commission is calculated at a rate of 50 percent of the sales price of all soft drinks sold and 55 percent of the sales price of water sold.
Bill Erlendson, the district's director of external programs, said the money from Pepsi sales would help schools fund technology needs and help pay for athletic gear and the upkeep of sports fields.
"We'll keep the same number of vending machines at each school, they will just supply Pepsi sodas, water and fruit juices," he says. "Of all the contracts that I have seen, this has the least amount of commercialism."
Critics, however, say the social costs of commercially subsidized education outweigh the benefits of Pepsi's money.
"Basically you're asking students to subsidize their own education by viewing advertisements," says Dylan Bernstein, program director for the Center for Commercial Free Public Education in Oakland. "The idea that students aren't affected by ads they see every day is ludicrous. Students are in school to learn, and if you surround them with Pepsi logos, that's what they are going to learn. Basically it's saying if you have enough money you can come in and buy educational space."
According to a July 1999 study by the center, 150 school districts have exclusive-beverage deals, costing Coca-Cola and Pepsi about $95 million over 10 years. The cola companies aren't in it for the money, however, Bernstein says.
"Pepsi and Coke aren't looking to make big money; they want to create lifelong brand loyalty," he says.
On Sept. 15, Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill prohibiting school districts from giving soft-drink companies exclusive rights to sell beverages on their campuses unless they have held public hearings on the proposed contracts. San Jose Unified took public comments on the proposal at a recent meetings, and held a workshop last week to discuss the subject. The new law, however, will not take effect until Jan. 1.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
