In Milwaukee, the signs are everywhere.
Drive through heavily trafficked downtown, and you鈥檒l see brightly colored billboards perched above office parks promoting the Milwaukee public schools鈥� 鈥淐hoose a Leader, Choose MPS鈥� advertising campaign.
Walk into a McDonald鈥檚 in the city, and your Big Mac and fries may come on a paper tray liner featuring the Milwaukee schools. 鈥淚t鈥檚 cool, it鈥檚 real, it鈥檚 back,鈥� says the message emblazoned across the placemats, which promote the district鈥檚 new teen-oriented television show.
Or turn on a local radio station, and you might hear a public service announcement promoting the district鈥檚 public-school-choice program.
鈥淭he years when kids just showed up at your door are over,鈥� said Don Hoffman, the acting communications director for the 105,000-student Milwaukee school system. 鈥淲e have to compete now, and we have to tell our side of the story.鈥�
More and more public school districts are trying to upgrade their images and attract more students through a blitz of commercials, 50-foot-long billboards, fast food coupons, and other tactics. These aggressive marketing campaigns are a response to competition from home schooling, charter schools, and private and parochial schools.
This business-style approach to promoting public education is flourishing primarily in larger districts, but will eventually trickle down to smaller ones, said Rich Bagin, the executive director of the Rockville, Md.-based National School Public Relations Association. 鈥淲hen there is a new boy on the block [like a charter or private school] touting new programs, people just don鈥檛 gravitate back [to the regular public schools],鈥� he said. "[Public schools] need to demonstrate how they鈥檝e changed.鈥� Mr. Hoffman puts it in more alarming terms. 鈥淲e鈥檙e fighting for our life,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e competing for every kid.鈥�
鈥楲ong Overdue鈥�
Threatened by a shrinking enrollment鈥攁nd consequently fewer state and federal dollars鈥攖he Milwaukee schools decided last year that since students weren鈥檛 coming to them, they鈥檇 go to the students and their parents. This school year, district officials spent $95,000 on television commercials, radio spots, direct-mail campaigns, billboards, Web site design, and other marketing tactics to court families back to the system.
As the site of the country鈥檚 biggest publicly financed voucher program, as well as many charter schools, the Milwaukee district faces especially stiff competition.
But other large urban districts are taking similar measures to promote themselves, and some are spending even more money on marketing.
School leaders in Detroit, for example, spent $180,000 last summer on radio and newspaper advertisements and enrollment fairs, and have visited local churches to drum up student enrollment.
In San Juan Capistrano, Calif., school administrators use telephone public opinion polls to gauge community support and market district programs. And in the Charlotte- Mecklenburg schools in North Carolina, district officials publicized information about the system鈥檚 school choice offerings by posting promotional material on eye-catching red billboards throughout the city, rolling out commercials on the radio during heavy commuting hours, and enlisting a local K- Mart store to tell shoppers鈥攙ia the store鈥檚 public address system鈥攁bout the choice program.
Such campaigns signal a fundamental shift in how public schools think of themselves as more like businesses in a competitive marketplace rather than government agencies, says Nora Carr, the assistant superintendent of public information for the 109,000-student Charlotte- Mecklenburg system.
In the past, Ms. Carr said, districts were not aggressive in communicating their progress to parents, students, businesses, and local residents. Most districts relied, and many still do, on the local news media to tell 鈥減ositive鈥� stories about their schools. But Ms. Carr said they are often dismayed when newspapers and television stations ignore those stories.
She emphasizes that school districts should not fault the media because the press is not an arm of a district鈥檚 public relations department. Getting the message out, she said, is the school system鈥檚 responsibility.
But because of public schools鈥� traditional reluctance to communicate what they鈥檝e had to offer, a huge gap exists between how communities perceive their public schools and how their educators see them, Ms. Carr said.
鈥淎llowing that gap to grow has hurt all of us,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 long overdue that we become more aggressive in communicating what we do, why we do it, what works, and what doesn鈥檛, and taking strategies other industries have [used] for a long time to let the general public know what鈥檚 really going on.鈥�
Recruiting Students
The Milwaukee system has lost several thousand students since 1990, when the Wisconsin legislature adopted a voucher program that gives qualifying families tuition money to send their children to private and religious schools. Publicly financed but largely independent charter schools have also eaten into the district鈥檚 enrollment pie鈥攁 dozen of the 92 charter schools in Wisconsin are in the Milwaukee area.
In response, the district, with the help of advertising agencies, created a very aggressive marketing campaign. Over the past few months, the city schools have:
- Aired up to 5,000 radio spots on 25 stations, and more than 3,000 commercials on nine television stations;
- Mailed 246,000 postcards to families highlighting famous district alumni, such as Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and R&B musician Eric Benet, as well as postcards publicizing 鈥淢aking the Grade,鈥� the district鈥檚 new television show for teenagers;
- Worked with local McDonald鈥檚 franchises to print 177,000 tray liners that showed Mr. Hoffman鈥檚 smiling face, along with broadcast times for 鈥淢aking the Grade鈥� and the show鈥檚 Web site address; and
- Placed information about the school system on more than 100 billboards throughout the city and on 75 signs on city buses and bus shelters.
The result? So far, 1,200 more students enrolled during this year鈥檚 open-registration period compared with last year, the first such increase in five years, Mr. Hoffman said. And more students translate into more aid money, he pointed out.
鈥淚f you just add up the additional enrollment of 1,200 kids, multiply that by 12 years, you鈥檙e talking about literally millions of dollars brought in by recruiting efforts,鈥� he said.
The communications chief added that while the district spent $95,000 in marketing efforts this school year, local businesses donated much more in radio and television airtime, advertising space, and other resources.
Roxanne Starks, the president of the Milwaukee PTA, said that the district鈥檚 public relations campaign has made it easier to learn about the local schools, and that people are starting to see the district in a more positive light.
鈥淚 have heard of parents who have reconsidered and brought their children back from the private voucher program,鈥� Ms. Starks said. Meanwhile, the recent marketing campaign in Detroit helped staunch the steady flow of students out of the city schools, where enrollment has dropped steadily, from 215,000 in the late 1970s to 167,000 today, according to Stan Childress, the district鈥檚 communications director.
But instead of losing a projected 5,800 students earlier this school year, enrollment fell by 1,700 in grades K-12, but actually rose by 763 pupils if prekindergarten is included, said Mr. Childress.
鈥淲e were wildly successful,鈥� he said.
Grassroots Campaign
High above downtown Charlotte鈥檚 mid-rise office buildings looms a big red billboard. Commuters driving toward the North Carolina city on busy 4th Street, right before they cross Independence Boulevard, will see it immediately. 鈥淎pply Now,鈥� it says鈥攔eferring not to a bank鈥檚 loan program, but to Charlotte-Mecklenburg鈥檚 public-school-choice program.
The billboard is just one element of the district鈥檚 $480,000 marketing campaign, which blends television, radio, and print advertising across the system鈥檚 540 square miles. But the most important part of the campaign is also the least visible鈥攖he personal contact and grassroots organizing that goes on behind the scenes, said Ms. Carr of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools.
鈥淣o matter how high-tech we get, and how marketing-savvy we get, there鈥檚 no replacement for person-to- person contact,鈥� she said.
In recent months, school employees and more than 75 volunteers have knocked on doors to talk to parents face-to-face and have hung yellow fliers on front doors to inform local residents about the district鈥檚 school choice program.
District leaders also hosted a school 鈥渆xpo鈥� that brought in more than 20,000 people; held 鈥淟unch and Learn鈥� sessions for major employers in the area; created a parent phone information line; and enlisted businesses to donate time and money to promote local schools.
In addition, the district reached out to its Latino constituents by making presentations about school programs after Hispanic youth soccer matches, posting signs in Latino grocery stores, and printing school information in Spanish. It also targets residents who speak languages such as Vietnamese. Like Milwaukee and other districts, Charlotte-Mecklenburg faces competition from charter schools, parochial schools, and home schooling. But while the system鈥檚 enrollment has been growing by about 3,000 students a year, school officials don鈥檛 take those increases for granted.
鈥淵ou know that movie where they said, 鈥楤uild it and they will come鈥�?鈥� Ms. Carr said. 鈥淲ell, that only works in Hollywood. You can鈥檛 take public support for granted.
鈥淵our teachers can love you, your parents can love you, your kids can love you, but you can still miss 70 to 80 percent of the people who vote,鈥� she said.
That鈥檚 a sentiment that Jacqueline Price has taken to heart. The assistant superintendent of California鈥檚 47,000-student Capistrano Unified School District, Ms. Price peppers her speech with business terminology, and she takes a data-driven approach in promoting her school system.
District leaders rely partly on public opinion polls鈥攂oth districtwide and school-specific鈥攖o gauge what the community knows and doesn鈥檛 know about its schools. When the district polled parents on the best way to communicate with them, for instance, it found out that the glossy quarterly district newsletter sent to parents was not a very effective communications tool. So now, parents can sign up for a weekly email news update, which is both well-read and cost-effective.
The Capistrano district also randomly polled parents on whether to do away with the annual back-to-school night. Ms. Price said she hadn鈥檛 been sure the event warranted the energy and time educators took to put it together. Or, as she puts it, she didn鈥檛 know if 鈥渨e were getting a return on our investment.鈥�
鈥淏ut we found out that parents love back-to-school night,鈥� Ms. Price said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 sit here in the ivory tower and think we have all the answers. If you want to survive in the marketplace, you need to focus on the customers and comply with their needs.鈥�
In fact, Ms. Price believes she saw how well the district鈥檚 marketing approach was working when voters overwhelmingly approved a $65 million school construction bond two years ago.
鈥淭his is an extremely conservative community, but it was approved by 74 percent,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 vote to tax themselves if they don鈥檛 have confidence in their schools.鈥�
