Cities compete in nearly every sector. They compete to attract jobs. They compete to attract highly skilled workers. They even compete to attract sports teams. When evaluating new markets, employers and job seekers have common priorities: vibrant cultural scenes, affordable and quality housing, and strong public schools. Cities should compete then, too, for the school leader and founder talent they need to fuel a successful school system. But they don't. Most cities struggle to help students achieve at high levels and find the talent needed to drive school success. In most cases, they rely on traditional university based training programs and a few newer talent pipeline programs, like Teach For America and New Leaders, to source their future school leader talent. For this paper, two researchers and recruitment experts, Christina Legg Greenberg and Julie Petersen, helped interview more than 20 nonprofit, city, education, private sector and recruitment leaders, and review the research on proven strategies to identify, recruit and retain leaders in the public and private sectors. The research, in addition to other supplemental publications, are available at the end of this paper in the form of a recommended reading list. The findings were that cities and city-based organizations working to improve public education could do much, much more to compete in the effort to attract and retain great school leaders. If the success of cities is tied to the success of their public schools, if great schools anchor great communities, and if graduates of great schools drive economic development, then we believe that our members, and other city-based leaders, need to take a page out of the private sector's playbook and recognize the true value of great school leaders. Cities that take the time to track down these leaders -- and marshal resources to meet their unique needs and desires -- will be rewarded with the strong public schools their communities so desperately need. ["How Cities Can Compete for Great School Leaders" was written with contributions from Christina Legg Greenberg and Julie Petersen.]