Authorized and Paid for by Voters for Glazer, G. Glazer, treasurer.
The Name Game
The bad news is that state aid to Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) will be cut by about $74 million this year, and federal aid will also drop by nearly a hundred million dollars. The good news is that MPS has unused assets that can bring in millions.
Do I mean vacant buildings? MPS owns about 27 buildings that are mostly or totally vacant that could be sold to private schools. These properties could bring in about $34 million, and save a million a year in maintenance costs. (*) We should sell them as soon as possible, but that is just a "one-shot deal".
But MPS has other assets that could bring millions, not just once, but every year from now on: the naming rights to Milwaukee Public Schools!
Would it be tacky to name a school McDonald High School or Nike Middle School? Sure, but it would be worth it to secure a major stream of income that no future governor or legislature could take away! If I had a child in MPS I would rather have him attend a well-equipped and staffed school called Wendy's than a substandard one named Sherman or Lloyd.
Of course, I would ban names of products that children cannot legally use, such as beer or tobacco. (No Smith & Wesson, either!) But that still leaves plenty of brands such as Reebok, Sony, Coke, Pepsi, Google, Facebook, Motown, Domino's, Kellog, Apple, Dell, Amazon, Wal-Mart, and new businesses that will be created in the future. Moreover, the Republican Party might pay to keep Reagan High School as is.
I would market five-year naming rights on a competitive-bid basis, with payments to MPS due annually. The school's logo and team colors would be matched to the name; for example, McDonald High teams might be known as the Golden Archers, with uniforms designed accordingly. Instead of a big game between North Division and South Division, we might have Nike vs Reebok. Now, that's a rivalry! All we need is one firm in a market niche to buy a school name, and the competitors would surely follow.
There is ample precedent for this idea: how about Miller Park or Bradley Tech or Racine's J I Case High School? NASCAR racers have sported corporate ads for years, and if they are not too proud to do so, neither should be MPS, which needs the money even more!
Gerald S Glazer
Candidate for Milwaukee School Director for the Second District.
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(*) A deed restriction now bars their use for non-MPS schools.
(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dec. 31, 2010, page 6A)
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