"Years of vouchers and competition-based reforms mean it's no longer a novelty to see MPS [Milwaukee Public Schools] promoting schools the way Procter & Gamble sells Tide," writes Sam Schulhofer-Wohl in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, but "the public school system's promotional efforts are reaching newly feverish heights this winter" with free chili dinners at MPS open houses, radio ads, and MPS's weekly TV show promoted on paper placemats at McDonald's. A $60,000 marketing campaign last winter brought an estimated 850 to 1200 students into MPS; this time around, the district is spending $95,000 and taking advantage of thousands of dollars worth of donated TV and radio airtime and billboard space. The district is also seeing positive results from its policy of requiring students to pass proficiency tests before leaving eighth grade, reports the newspaper's Alan Borsuk. The percentage of ninth-graders who graduated to tenth grade at the end of the year last June increased significantly, with grade point averages and attendance for ninth graders also increasing. For more see "MPS marketing gets an 'E' for everywhere," by Sam Schulhofer-Wohl, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 18, 2002, and "More MPS students go on to 10th grade," by Alan Borsuk, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 17, 2002.
