Daley Derides Obama ‘Race to the Top’ Slogan
A month after Illinois got nothing from the federal Race to the Top grant program, Mayor Richard M. Daley on Wednesday blasted the Obama administration’s $3.4 billion initiative.
As he attended the dedication of the new West Ridge Elementary School on the Far North Side, Daley complained about the federal process for selecting which states would share in Race to the Top dollars. The mayor said it was “silly” that Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman was not permitted to participate in the state’s pitch for funds before U.S. Department of Education officials in August.
The mention of the state’s Race to the Top failure inspired a classic Daley outburst: “These are just political slogans and we should end it. We should end it. It’s just political slogans. Where is the state and where are the federal government continually? You race to the top — actually, you race to the bottom. Next week we’ll race to the side. Everybody’s racing to something. Why can’t we just say, ‘Why can’t you send us money to build our
