CHICAGO – In criticizing Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008, then Sen. Barack Obama pointed out at a Virginia campaign stop that “you can put lipstick on a pig …

“It’s still a pig,” he said in the live CNN broadcast, which was later posted to YouTube.

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It seems the same logic could be applied in the president’s hometown of Chicago, where Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. wants to simply rebrand poor performing schools to lure parents in, DNAinfo reports.

Burnett recently discussed two area elementary schools in his district – Franklin Elementary and Manierre Elementary – and offered his solution for saving the latter, which was at one time on the city’s list of schools to close because of low enrollment.

“Quite frankly, what I would like to do is make Manierre ‘Franklin II,’” Burnett told DNAinfo. “Franklin is right down the street. Franklin has a long waiting list to get in there.

“Franklin has a community component,” he added. “So does Manierre. Make it Franklin II, and I guarantee you we’ll fill the school up. Everybody benefits. It’s a no-brainer to me.”

In 2014, 11 percent of Manierre students who took the Illinois Standards Achievement Test met or exceeded standards for reading, and 26 percent did the same for math. At Franklin, 79 percent met or exceeded standards for reading, and 77 percent reached the threshold for math, district data shows

At Franklin, a magnet school, 30 percent of students are white, 22 percent are Hispanic, 37 percent are black and 7 percent are Asian. Manierre, a neighborhood school with 96 percent black students, was slated to be consolidated with Jenner Elementary in 2013, but the plan was shelved amid public backlash, WBEZ reports.

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Burnett told DNAinfo he believes officials can turn things around for Manierre with creative “branding,” despite the fact that it’s in a less desirable area.

“Skinner I used to be in a bad neighborhood,” he said. “Whitney Young used to be in a bad neighborhood, but they had the most exceptional grades in schools in the area. So it’s not where the area is, it’s the brand. If you can use the brand and the curriculum to go to the underused schools, you solve the problem.”

The alderman did not address Manierre’s dismal academic performance.

The rebranding, of course, will cost money for new signs and curriculum, “but what’s wrong with a little money?” Burnett said.

“You’re going to get the money back because you’re going to get it through the pupil head count,” he said.