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Sales Pitch: Go to School in Our District

In Milwaukee, the signs are everywhere.

Drive through heavily trafficked downtown, and you'll see brightly colored billboards perched above office parks promoting the Milwaukee public schools' "Choose a Leader, Choose MPS" advertising campaign.

Walk into a McDonald's in the city, and your Big Mac and fries may come on a paper tray liner featuring the Milwaukee schools. "It's cool, it's real, it's back," says the message emblazoned across the placemats, which promote the district's...