Competition sparks advertising increase

Public schools have been losing pupils to charters.
DAYTON (AP) -- Competition from charter schools is fueling sharply increased spending by the city's public schools on TV, radio, newspaper and billboard advertising.
Dayton is among U.S. communities with the highest percentage of pupils attending charters, which has drawn many pupils away from the city's public schools.
In the past three years, the public schools have spent about $600,000 on advertising. That compares to only about $13,000 a year before charters began popping up after legislators created them in 1998, arguing that competition would help improve education.
School officials say the amount spent is still just a fraction of the more than $200 million in its budget and is a smaller percentage than many colleges, libraries and other education institutions spend.
'Investment'
"It's hardly a splurge," said Jill Moberley, spokeswoman for Dayton Public Schools. "It's really an investment."
Gail Littlejohn, president of the Dayton school board, said she receives advertising in the mail from charter schools nearly every week in the fall.
"It's been forced upon us to compete for students," she said.
Selling the schools has won the approval of the teachers' union.
"There's no other way of showing the community we do want your child in Dayton Public Schools," said Willie Terrell, president of the Dayton Education Association. "We have to do something."
The public schools spent $265,933 on advertising in the 2003-04 school year and $234,162 last year. So far this year, the schools have spent $98,129.
Charter schools are free public schools supported with tax dollars but run independently of the public school system by private operators.
Declining enrollment
In Dayton, 22 percent of all children attend the 33 charter schools, all of which opened since 1998. The district's enrollment has plummeted by nearly 30 percent in that time, forcing 16 schools to close.
Now, there are more charter schools than the 28 traditional public schools in the city.
Moberley said the Council of Great City Schools, an organization of the largest urban school systems in the country, recommended the advertising push. The council reviewed Dayton's operations three years ago.
"Looking at Dayton, they saw the advent of charters and saw we were not doing a lot to compete with them at that time," Moberley said.