Budget cuts, teacher layoffs, and furloughs are part and parcel in school districts across the country during a recession. Many schools are looking for creative, non-traditional ways to keep their teachers and maintain services for students in the current economic environment. In one case, schools in Los Angeles are taking advantage of their proximity to Hollywood by opening up their campuses to TV and movie producers for a fee.

Some LA schools are bending over backwards to market themselves because schools receive a significant amount of money for accommodating film crews. From the AP, via USAToday:

“School officials who permit movie shoots say it nets them big bucks. They get paid location fees ranging from Los Angeles Unified’s $3,100 per day to Torrance’s $5,500, plus sundries such as cleanup.

With more schools signing up for filming and ramped up promotion through FilmLA, Los Angeles Unified has earned the most it’s ever made from filming this school year — $1.5 million from last July through March.”

The extra cash comes at a time when schools are being hit from all sides by reduced funding and students who need education more than ever to find a job in a weak economy with high unemployment. However, there remains the possibility that Hollywood’s demand for on-location shots may not stick around for the long-term. What will schools do when money from producers runs low?

Schools should have a consistent and dependable source of public funding to educate children and prepare them for the workforce. Hollywood’s investment in LA and Torrance schools is an excellent example of how a community can support education. How can we ensure that our schools continue to receive sufficient funding from both private and public funds, even during tough economic times?