New Jersey Schools May Use Channel One, Commissioner Rules
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The State Education Commissioner ruled today that about 300 New Jersey schools can continue showing Channel One, a classroom television program that mixes news and commercials. The Commissioner, John Ellis, rejected a contention by an administrative law judge that the broadcasts, produced by Whittle Communications, violate state law. But the Education Commissioner warned that his decision does not give school boards “an unfettered right” to contract with commercial television companies and he said that school boards “must assiduously guard against the potential for abuse” of commercialism in a classroom setting. Channel One consists of 10 minutes of news and 2 minutes of commercials divided into four 30-second spots. The Whittle company, based in Knoxville, Tenn., provides schools with televisions, VCR’s and a satellite dish and produces the daily news and current events programs. 308 in New Jersey Sign Up Several states, including New York and Rhode Island, have banned Channel One or tried to keep it out of public schools. But more than 100 private and parochial schools in New York are under contract, Whittle said. More : query.nytimes.com |