The plan

- Mayor Daley, you have a unique perspective on the city government, since you have been the mayor for the past seventeen years and since you are the son of the man who had been a mayor for over twenty years. This singular experience allows you, perhaps more than any other mayor in the U.S., to have a perspective on long-term city development. What is your plan for Chicago’s growth?

Richard M. Daley: The plan is to provide quality education for all: poor kids, middle class children, and rich kids. To provide an educational system of excellence, of opportunity. One which would allow young people to, go to college, technical or vocational school, get extended training, and get a job.  An educational system that would bring about the rebuilding of our manufacturing capacity and allow us to build a knowledge-based society right here, in the city of Chicago.

 - With globalization, there is a movement of jobs away from the city, away from the country. What do you think can be the main spur for economic growth in Chicago in future years?

R.M.D.: Quality education, a knowledge-based economy, manufacturing utilizing high technology that can only be attained by a few countries. This type of knowledge comes from a good education beginning in early childhood and continuing through elementary school, high school, college, and technical and vocational opportunities. It’s our goal to provide the city with the best education opportunities in the world.

 - What do you see as major obstacles in achieving this goal?

R.M.D.: The major obstacle is lack of understanding. America really has to understand that education divides people. On one hand, there are the are uneducated who live in po-verty; those who are educated are not poor. It’s as simple as that. There is no other issue that really divides people. Poverty is caused by a lack of education. And that is so simple that it is hard for Democrats, Republicans, people in general to understand. What we have to do in America is to make education the highest priority – on a daily basis. We need to rebuild the quality of education in America.

The mayor is a modest man, the language he uses is direct and accessible. It is only after a gleaning the facts gathered by scientific institutions and the media, and provided by Google, that one can see the true scale of Richard M. Daley’s projects.