Saturday, February 11, 2012

This post reproduces the 12/12/11 speech at The Economic Club of Chicago, as prepared by the Mayor and reported by his office. As with the previous post, we reproduce it to preserve it as a public record in case that it is later edited or removed from the Mayor's Office webpage. The original document can be found at 

Notice a discrepancy between this version of the speech and that offered by The Economic Club of Chicago that we reproduced in the previous post. This is the phrase where the mayor states that the City Colleges will become vocational schools:

"We are going to remake our community college system into a skills-based, vocational-based educational system."

This is omitted in the ECC's version.

PEARL





EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY 
December 12, 2011 
CONTACT: 
Mayor’s Press Office 
312.744.3334 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Speech to the Economic Club of Chicago

Remarks As Prepared 

John, thank you for the introduction. Congratulations on your victory tonight. Now you have two organizations to lead: the Economic Club and Republicans for Rahm. 
John, don’t get your priorities out of order. I’m counting on you. 
John has become the leader of an organization that has helped Chicago make the most of its challenges for more than 80 years. 
But tonight is unique in the Economic Club’s history. Yes, we have executives from all types of industry. Many of you have helped turn Chicago into the global city it has become. 
But I also want to single out the young leaders of Chicago’s future who are sitting beside you. In this room is a sample of the teachers, doctors, lawyers, ministers, and executives, who will shape Chicago in the years to come. Believe me, that future is not too far away. 
It seems like five minutes ago I was a kid working for Congressman Paul Simon when he was running for Senate, and later had the honor of working for Mayor Daley. Back then I was brash, profane, competitive, and very young. Now I’m just brash, profane, and competitive. 
But I don’t want the young people here to get the wrong idea. Those are not the qualities you need to be Mayor, just the qualities I needed to compete with my two brothers. 
When I was growing up, my brothers never would have imagined I would be here tonight, addressing the Economic Club of Chicago. And when I started out in politics, I don’t think the members of the Economic Club thought I would be addressing them as Mayor. 
The Economic Club has hosted Prime Minister Tony Blair, GE CEO Jack Welch and President Jimmy Carter. 
After World War Two, you invited General Omar Bradley. What made his speech remarkable was how little he spoke of his victories on the battlefield. Instead, he warned that what led to his success would not work for America in the future. He was right. The battlefield was about to change. 
In the 1950s, you hosted a young Senator and future president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Then Senator Kennedy told the Economic Club that our country’s ties with new nations and emerging markets would determine its future. He was right. Think about that: in the 1950s he saw over the horizon and into the 21st century and the global economy that we know today. 
Both General Bradley and President Kennedy made the most of their time here by discussing the dangers and opportunities ahead. 
We too have an opportunity tonight, not to dwell on our city’s past, but to look to our future and to build a stronger Chicago. 
Nobody respects the leaders in this room more than I do. So I am going to pay you the ultimate compliment: the compliment of candor and honesty. 
I’m here to talk about what we must do to rebuild and re-imagine our educational system. 
We have the best kids in the world, but when they emerge from the system, whether from our high schools or community colleges, they lag far behind their peers, both in this country and around the world. We are not providing them an education that allows them to live up to their full potential. 
That should matter to all of us because these are Chicago’s children. And whether we are from the Northside, Westside, Southside, or downtown, we are one Chicago. We have one future. 
The task is enormous but the equation is simple: the future of Chicago hinges on the future of our school system. That is the equation that drives me every day. 
We all know this: education is the great equalizer. If you provide people an education, a city and a country will succeed. 
I know I’m not the first politician to point that out, or say that changes in education are urgently needed. Some elected officials have said that early childhood is the key – and they are right. Others have stressed strong high schools, and math and science -- and they are right. 
But when it comes to investing in education, it can’t be multiple-choice. It must be all of the above. 
From the cradle to the career, from kindergarten to college—that is where we must invest our resources and our time. 
When you look at the educational debate of the past 30 years, there has been a great deal of focus on the early years, the high school years, and our four-year institutions. 
What has not been a focus since the creation of the GI Bill is our community colleges, despite the fact that community colleges are where a majority of America’s students go for post-secondary education or training. By overlooking these critical centers of learning, we are missing an important opportunity. And our economy is now showing the strains of these years of neglect. 
When employers can’t find skilled workers during one of the deepest recessions in American history, that should tell us something: we have a tool in our arsenal that is not doing all it can for our students. It must be modernized for the new economy. 
Our community colleges were a linchpin of America’s post war boom and they are just as critical today. 
They are as important to our economic growth and potential as a city as any other part of our educational system. Modernizing them is how we will continue to attract industries and make the most of our strengths. Think about this: there are more students in our City Colleges, 127,000, than in all of Chicago’s four-year institutions combined. 
Now don’t get me wrong, Chicago and the state of Illinois have great institutions of higher learning. We know them: Northwestern, University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Depaul, Columbia College, Loyola, Roosevelt, UIC. 
We have two of the top five business schools in the country in Booth and Kellogg. We have great law schools. In technology we have IIT, Fermi, Argonne labs, and U of I. 
Chicago is also the destination of choice for graduates from the Big Ten States, be they from Madison, Columbus, Ann Arbor, Iowa City, East Lansing, Minneapolis / Saint Paul, Indianapolis, or South Bend. 
What we have overlooked in the development of our workforce is the preparation of our own children. We have not developed the educational system that helps our economy grow. 
We can no longer allow the practices of the past to sabotage our hopes for the future. 
When I talk to CEO’s I hear a regular message from them about their workforce and the skills they need. Whether that’s Pat Woertz at ADM, Glenn Tilton at United, Glen Tullman at Allscripts, Randall Stephenson at AT&T, Jamie Dimon at at JP Morgan, Vikram Pandit at Citibank, or some of you in this room. You all tell me the same thing: from welders, to code-writers, to workers in healthcare and IT services, you need more skilled employees. 
We need skilled workers to rebuild our infrastructure, we need them to care for the sick; we need them to welcome the millions who visit Chicago each year in our hospitality industry; we need them to make the products people want to buy; and to write the code that powers new technologies. 
But employers can’t find skilled workers and workers can’t find jobs. Like the rest of the country, Chicago has a skills gap. 
And we can’t say we haven’t been warned. I want to give you a set of headlines, literally, from just the last four weeks: 
From The Wall Street Journal, November 16th: quote -- Study finds US workers under pressure to improve skills, but need more support. -- unquote 
In The Wall Street Journal on November 25th : quote – In an unexpected twist some skilled jobs go begging – unquote 
From Crain’s on December 2nd in an article, Closing the tech-skills gap -- quote -- More than 60% of small businesses are struggling to find skilled applicants. – unquote 
From the Chicago Tribune, a week ago, on December 6th: quote - Jobs go unfilled as skills fall flat. – unquote 
But I don’t need to read about the skills gap in The Wall Street Journal or the Tribune or Crain’s. I see it and hear about it everyday. 
Riding the El six weeks ago, I met a young man who was commuting from Harold Washington Community College where he studies business and computers to his job at a Target warehouse. 
That young man is doing everything right. He’s studying, he’s holding down a job. He is doing everything we can ask of him to give himself a better shot at a future. 
So when he puts Harold Washington on his resume, that should mean something to his employer. It should have economic value to him. 
The basic agreement is you take responsibility, and we’ll provide you opportunity. That young man is taking responsibility but we are not living up to our side of the bargain. 
Can we honestly say to ourselves that we are doing everything we can for him, that he is getting the best from us? 
When he walks into a job interview, and it says Harold Washington or Malcolm X College on his resume, his hard work should pay-off. If we work together, starting tonight, it will. 
Because the young man looking for opportunity and the CEO in the corporate suite, looking for skilled workers, are looking for the same thing. 
The community college is the link our employees and employers need, but it has been missing in action. 
Companies need workers who make the products, design the products, wire the products, move the products and sell the products – and community colleges can provide them. 
As Mayor, I cannot read the headlines about a skills gap, I can’t see it everyday in our city, and say that it’s not my problem. 
It is my problem -- because it’s unconscionable to me that we can have more than 100,000 job openings, and close to a 10% unemployment rate. 
It is because I know that we have exactly what we need to answer the challenge, both for employees and employers, and it is right here under our nose: our community college system. 
Let’s be candid: most community colleges offer students what they should have learned in high school. Too often, they provide remedial learning to compensate for gaps in their education. That is not why our community college system was established. 
Community colleges were the catapult for the World War II generation coming home from the battlefield, the generation of Americans who became the most productive and economically expansive in American history. They can serve that same function in the 21st century. 
At the beginning of the 20th century, a high school education was a necessity for the industrial economy. At the beginning of the 21st century, two years of quality post-secondary education are equally essential. 
That’s especially true here in Chicago when you look at our engines of growth: transportation and logistics, healthcare sciences, IT, conventions and tourism, professional services, and high-end manufacturing. 
We need our community colleges linked up to those growth sectors. And to do that, we need our industry leaders linked up to those schools. 
Because of our central location, we are a transportation and logistics juggernaut, but we cannot rest on our location alone. 
The question is: will we train the skilled workers we need to capitalize on the advantages we have? 
Because of our private sector leadership with Abbott Labs, Walgreens, Baxter, and Allscripts, and our hospitals, like Rush, Stroger, Northwestern and University of Chicago, we are becoming a global healthcare sciences hub. 
The question is: Will we train for it? 
Because of McCormick Place and O’Hare, we continue to be a world-leader in tourism and conventions. 
The question is: Will we train for it? 
Because of Navistar, Ford, and ArcelorMittal steel, we can serve as a national center for high-end manufacturing. 
The question is: Will we train for it? 
Because of Motorola Solutions, Molex, and GroupOn, we can be the nation’s next hot spot for technology and innovation. 
The question is: Will we train for it? 
Because we are home to great global businesses like Aon, Boeing and United, and we are home to great law firms, and great consulting firms like Accenture, and great accounting firms like Ernst and Young, we are the professional services center of the Midwest. 
The question is: Will we train for it? 
Because we are about to launch the largest infrastructure investment for a city, not just for our water but for our roads, and soon for our mass transit, we will need a strong partnership with labor. We will need workers in skilled trades. 
The question is: will we train for it? 
And tonight, here in this room, we answer that fundamental question. 
Tonight, we charge our community colleges with a new mission: to train the workforce of today for the jobs of tomorrow; to give our students the ability to achieve a middle class standard of living; to provide our companies with the skilled workers they need. 
Cities like Miami and Louisville have tried something similar -- but in a single industry, with a single school. Miami matched a community college to train students in the healthcare sciences. Louisville has linked a community college with UPS to be a leader in logistics. 
But this is Chicago. We need something bigger, more ambitious, and more comprehensive, something to match the diversity and depth of our economy, which is one of our strengths. 
So tonight, I am announcing that we will tailor six of our community colleges to train students in a specific sector, where we know we can dominate the future. 
We are announcing our first two schools and their partners tonight. 
Malcolm X College will be the school that drives Chicago’s leadership in the healthcare sciences. 
Rush Medical Center, Stroger and Northwestern Hospitals, Advocate Healthcare, Baxter, Walgreens and Allscripts have agreed to partner with Malcolm X College, to develop their curriculum and train the faculty. 
Olive Harvey College will be our center for excellence in transportation, distribution, and logistics. They will work with UPS, Canadian National Railway, AAR, and BNSF, among others. They will be Olive Harvey’s partners in modernizing their programs and providing the training students need to compete in the transportation and logistics field. 
As Mayor of Chicago, I can’t protect our city from a global or national recession. But I can address a skills gap – so that no employer, in the middle of a deep recession, is without the employees they must have – so that no worker is without the skills they need to find a job. 
We have a dynamic Chancellor of our community college system, Cheryl Hyman, and I’ve appointed each of the six new City College presidents to oversee this modernization. 
But this reinvention, and the investments required to make our school-system world class, is something that all of us must be a part of. 
Reinvention is nothing new to our city. Chicago went from a remote trading post to a center of global industry. From the cinders of the great fire, our city became a showcase for the world in its architecture. 
Chicago did not reinvent itself by itself. Our growth was forged by those who were willing to make the tough choices and the right investments, by people who were not afraid to see the future, with all its challenges, as an opportunity. 
Today, we must be those people. 
And tonight, I ask you, to be a partner in the transformation of our community colleges. 
Every year we will modernize two new schools and match them with partners in the private sector, to train the workers for our factories, for our offices, for our hospitals, for our hotel industry and for our infrastructure. 
We are going to remake our community college system into a skills-based, vocational-based educational system. 
In the same way that you help Booth and Kellogg prepare their graduates for careers in management and finance, we need you to partner with our community colleges -- so that their curriculums meet the needs of the sectors that power the Chicago economy. 
I’m not talking about hiring one person or even a partnership. It’s more than that. This is about ensuring that the curriculum taught at community colleges provides the skills you need at your place of employment. 
By making a diploma from our community colleges into a ticket to the workforce, we will make them a first option for job training and not a last resort. 
I do not expect you to do this alone. Our community college leaders will be right there with you. And whatever you invest in our schools, you will get back many times over in the skills of your employees and your ability to grow. 
There is no greater investment we can make in the life of our city, than the one we make in the lives of our students. 
And I can also tell you, there is no greater reward. 
Meeting young people on the campaign trail or in my visits to schools as Mayor, that’s something I’ve learned over and over again. 
Every day our students wake up optimistic about their future. They believe they can achieve great things and so many of them do, sometimes against great odds. 
If our students have the strength to turn obstacles into opportunities, surely, the adults do as well. 
Some say that a comprehensive investment in all levels of education, in all our communities, is impossible. Today’s fiscal challenges make it more difficult. 
Yes we have to set priorities. Yes, we have to make tough choices. And that’s what we’re doing tonight. 
But to those who say that we can’t afford to confront these challenges, I say, we can’t afford not to. 
And let me tell you something: we’re already doing it in K through 12. 
Four new charter-schools opened this year, serving 2,000 more students. Five more will come on line next year. 2,300 more kids attend magnet schools of excellence this year. 6,000 more children have full-day kindergarten. 
And this year, at my urging 13 Chicago public schools are offering a full school day. An additional 36 charter schools serving 17,000 students citywide will join them and transition to a full school day next month. 
We’ve begun the largest turnaround of our neighborhood schools. Next year ten schools will be staffed by new principals and new teachers, many trained by AUSL, which has a proven record of success. 
Beginning next year, every public school student in Chicago will have an additional 250 hours of time on task learning the fundamentals. 
At Howe School in Chicago, that means 55 more hours on task for more Math. That’s 55 more hours in reading and writing. That’s 55 more hours on task for our students to study science. 
But a full day won’t matter unless we’re willing and able to make the most of it. We need to strengthen the three pillars behind every student’s success: a principle who is accountable, a teacher who is motivated, and a parent who is engaged. 
That is the combination that can unlock achievement for all our students, in all our communities. 
And if we make those investments in accountability and opportunity, we can ensure that when students arrive at a four-year institution or community college, that they are ready for the next level, to compete and win. 
When it comes to modernizing our public education system and community colleges, I will not take no for an answer. 
Any business that stands pat as the world changes is a business that’s doomed to failure. And our city has no more important business than educating our students. 
Change is always difficult. The status quo is more comfortable. 
In seven months in this job, I have come to the conclusion that people hate the status quo … and they are not too excited about change either. 
But when the status quo is failing, then change is inevitable. We can resolve to help shape the future or allow ourselves to be shaped by it. 
The people in this room tonight are leaders and not followers. And I’m not just talking about the members of the Economic Club. I’m talking about the young people who have joined us. 
This is the future of Chicago. For the kids in this room, and the students throughout Chicago, we must resolve to do everything we can to make sure they are successful. 
I firmly believe that we can overcome any obstacle if we are willing to confront our challenges with vision and determination. That’s why I ran for the job of Mayor and I believe that’s why the people of Chicago elected me. In the past months we have started the fight for change and, with your help, we will continue it. We can ensure that the future of our city and every student will be unlimited. 
We can be sure that our children and grandchildren can be as proud to call Chicago their home as we are today. 
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless Chicago.

# # # 



Transcript of Emanuel's 12/12/11 speech at The Economic Club of Chicago

This is the full transcript of Mayor Emanuel's speech prepared by The Economic Club of Chicago. It includes the introductory remarks by the club's president, John Canning, and after the speech, the questions and answers session. We reproduce it here in its entirety just in case the ECC decides to remove (or edit) from its website. This document can be found at http://www.econclubchi.org/Documents/Meeting/2502838f-fb9b-4962-9f3f-690906b18f3b.pdf. In the next post we will reproduce the prepared remarks of the Mayor.

PEARL

The Economic Club of Chicago
Second Dinner Meeting of the 2011-2012 Program Year
December 12, 2011 – The Honorable Rahm Emanuel – Mayor, City of Chicago

JOHN CANNING: Tonight we are honored to welcome my close, personal friend,
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. It was just seven months ago that Rahm was sworn in as
Mayor. So let me briefly review some history.
Rahm was born in Chicago and raised in Wilmette. His mother was a Civil
Rights Activist who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the ‘60s. His father was a
pediatrician who was a medic in the 1948 Arab Israeli War. The second of three sons,
Rahm was offered a scholarship to study with Chicago’s Geoffrey Ballet but instead
chose to attend Sara Lawrence College. After graduating he went on to earn a Masters
Degree in social communications at Northwestern University. And while there he
actually pioneered the concept that every speech could be improved with four letter
words.
In 1989, he was the chief fundraiser for Richard Daley successor mayoral
campaign where he had garnered the attention of Bill Clinton’s campaign which promptly
hired him. Rahm then raised a record amount of money for Clinton keeping his
presidential campaign afloat during rocky days during the primaries. After Clinton took
office, Rahm rose to become the President’s Chief Political Advisor and he scored many
victories during his first White House Tour including securing the North American
Treaty, the North American Free Trade Agreement Passage. Rahm left the Clinton
Administration in 1998 to return to Chicago embarking on a successful three year stent as
 
an investment banker. As a result, Rahm you left the 99% and joined the 1%. Welcome
aboard! Good to have you.
In 2002 he was elected to Congress on his first attempt representing Chicago’s
north side. Three years later he took over the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee engineering the party’s takeover of the House of Representatives in 2006. So
a lot happier day for Rahm than for me. By the time President Obama asked him to
become Chief of Staff in 2009, Rahm was Democratic Caucus Chair making him fourth
in the House leadership.
President Obama took over during a very tumultuous time for our country. In the
midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, with two costly and
unpopular wars, despite these imposing challenges, Rahm accepted the President’s call to
be White House Chief of Staff. And he proved to be a Presidential gatekeeper as well as
an efficient policy maker. He led the charge on Capitol Hill to win approval for funding
for the troubled Asset Relief Program, the Recovery Act and the Healthcare Reform Law.
In 2010 he left the Cabinet to announce his run for Mayor of Chicago. And on
February 22nd he won 55% of the vote in a six candidate race. He took the reigns during
a historically difficult time for all cities and Chicago was no exception. The city had a
budget shortfall topping 650 million dollars not including the hundreds of millions of
dollars in under funded pensions. Or the 700 million dollar deficit in the CPS budget.
Additionally, he put more police officers on the streets in high crime
neighborhoods fulfilling his campaign to add 1,000 officers to the streets. On his first
day he lobbed off 75 million dollars from the City budget and he has been equally active
in Springfield before even taking office he successful lobbied the State Legislature to

pass a landmark education package that allows school districts more freedom to fire bad
teachers. Makes it harder for teachers to strike and finally gives (applause) and even as
important finally gives students a full day of, a full school day.
Job creation has also been at the top of his list. During his seven months in office,
the Mayor has brought ten thousand new jobs to the City from some of the best
companies in America including Motorola, JP Morgan, Walgreens, GE Capital, United
Airlines and most recently Sara Lee. He has articulated a simple formula to insure that
Chicago remains a world class city, safe streets, strong schools, stable finances. His first
budget as Mayor passed the City Counsel unanimously. However, the budget process
was not a one man operation. Citizens were invited to join the conversation. Mayor
Emanuel held two budget town halls over the summer. And for the first time in
Chicago’s history the Mayor created a website to serve as on online forum for discussion
between lawmakers and taxpayers. He also brought ethics reform and transparency to
City Hall. Right after he finished his inaugural speech in Millennium Park he went
straight to his office on the 5th floor of City Hall sat down at his desk and signed six
executive orders. He shut the revolving door between lobbyists and city government.
And banned lobbyists from contributing to political campaigns. And he persuaded the
City Council to pass his own ethics, its own ethics ordinance barring former members
who have been convicted of a felony from stepping on the council floor or in its back
room.
It also needs to be said that for as much as he is known for his hard charging, take
no prisoners style, Mayor Emanuel is equally gracious and sensitive. Rahm eats, sleeps

and breathes Chicago. It’s in his bones and in his blood, which I imagine pumps at a
fairly rapid rate.
After his wife Amy and their three children Chicago tops a short but distinguished
list of things Rahm loves. Please help me welcome the new Mayor of Chicago Rahm
Emanuel.

MAYOR EMANUEL: Thank you very much John. It’s been noted, your election
which was unanimous. I haven’t seen that since my budget passed, so congratulations on
that.
I was listening to that introduction. I want you to know that I started this job 6’3
and 250 pounds and this is what I got left. And that’s dripping wet.
I want to congratulate you, now you have two organizations to run John, The
Chicago Economic Club and Republicans for Rahm. And in all honesty John, I want you
to make sure you get your priorities right, okay. I’m counting on you.
John has become a leader of an organization that has helped Chicago make the
most of the challenges over the last 80 years. But tonight is unique in the Economic
Club’s history. Yes we have executives from all types of industry. Many of you helped
turn Chicago into the world class city it is today. But I also want to single out the young
leaders that are with you today. The future that are sitting beside you.
In this room are the teachers, the doctors, the lawyers, the ministers, the
executives who’ll shape Chicago in the years to come. And believe me that future is not
too far away. It seems like just five minutes ago I was Senator Simon’s Finance Director
when he was running for Senate. And late the honor of working for Mayor Daley. Back
 
then I was brash, profane, competitive, very young. Now I’m brash, profane and
competitive and not very young. But I don’t want the young people here to get the wrong
idea. Those aren’t the qualities you need to be Mayor. Those are just the qualities you
need to survive as brother Emanuel with older and younger brother.
When I was growing up I got to be honest, my brothers never thought I would be
here tonight addressing the Economic Club of Chicago. And when you were listening to
John, and I was starting out in politics, I don’t think the members of the Economic Club
thought I would be addressing you as Mayor.
So the Economic Club has had Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Jimmy
Carter, CEO Jack Welch. After World War II you had Omar Bradley here. And what
made that speech remarkable is Omar Bradley did not talk about the victory of World
War II, but he talked about the challenges ahead for the battlefield. And that what
worked for us in World War II would not work for us in the future. And he saw the
future when he spoke from this podium.
In 1950’s the Economic Club of Chicago hosted a young senator from
Massachusetts, John Kennedy. Later to become President and in that speech, John
Kennedy talked about the importance of aligning America with a merging nations and
their markets. In the 1950’s he could see over the horizon into the 21st Century and see
the country that were to become and the economy that we were to become by merging
with a merging nations and their economies.
General Bradley, President Kennedy made the most of their time by discussing
the dangers and the opportunities ahead. And we too have an opportunity tonight, not to
dwell on our city’s past, but to look to the future and to build a strong Chicago of
 
tomorrow. Nobody respects leaders in this room more than I do. So I’m going to pay
you the ultimate compliment of candor and honesty. I’m here to talk about what we must
do to rebuild and reimagine our education system. We have the best kids in the world,
but when they emerge from our system, whether from our high schools or our community
colleges, they lag far behind their peers. Both in this country and around the world. We
are not providing them an education that allows them to reach their full potential. That I
know is a concern to all of us who care about Chicago’s children and Chicago’s future.
And whether we are from the north side, south side, the west side or downtown, we are
one Chicago with one future. The task is enormous, but the equation is simple, the future
of Chicago hinges on the future of its school system. That is the equation that drives me
every day. We all know this, education is the great equalizer. If provide people an
education, a city and a country can succeed.
I know I’m not the first politician or public servant to point that out. Or to say
that changes in education are essential and urgently needed. Some elected officials have
said that early childhood is the key, and they are right. Others have stressed strong high
schools, math and science education and they are right. But when it comes to investing in
education, it can’t be multiple choice, it must be all the above. From the cradle to the
career, from kindergarten to college, that is where we must invest our resources and our
time.
When you look at the education debate of the last 30 years, there has been a great
deal of focus on the early years, the high school years, our four-year institutions. What
has not been in focus is on what has been the creation of the GI bills and that is our
community colleges. Despite the fact that our community colleges are where a majority
 
of the students go for their post secondary education and training. By overlooking these
critical training centers, we are missing an important opportunity and our economy today
is now showing the strains of these years of neglect.
When employers cannot find skilled workers during one of the deepest recessions
in American history that should tell us something. We have a tool in our arsenal and we
are not doing all that it can do. And it is sitting on the sidelines. It must be modernized
for the new economy. Our community colleges were a lynchpin for America’s post war
boom and they are just as critical today. They are as important to our economic growth
and potential as a city as any other part of our educational system. Modernizing them is
how we will continue to attract the industries and make the most of our strengths.
I want you to think about this for just one minute. There are more students in our
city colleges, 127,000 than in all of Chicago’s four year institutions combined, 127,000.
Now don’t get me wrong, Chicago and the State of Illinois have great higher ed
institutions. We know them, Northwestern, University of Chicago, University of Illinois,
DePaul, Columbia, Loyola, Roosevelt, UIC. We have two of the top five business
schools in the country, Booth and Kellogg. We have great law schools. In technology
we have IIT, Ferme, Argon, U of I. Chicago is also the destination of choice for the big
ten states and big ten institutions. Be they at Madison, Ann Arbor, Columbus, Iowa City,
South Bend, Minneapolis and St. Paul. We have overlooked in the, we have overlooked
in the development of our work force is the preparation of our own children. We have
not developed the educational system that helps our economy grow. We can no longer
allow the practices of the past to sabotage our hopes for the future.
 
When I talk to CEO’s I hear a regular message from them about their force and
the skills they need. Whether it’s Pat Woertz at ADM, Glen Tilton at United, Glen
Tullman at All Scripts, Randall Stephenson at AT&T, Jamie Dimon at JP Morgan or
(inaudible) at Citibank. Or some of your actually in this room as well. You all tell me the
same thing, from welders to code writers, to workers in healthcare, IT services, you need
more skilled employees. We need skilled workers to rebuild our infrastructure. We need
them to care for the sick. We need them to welcome the millions who visit Chicago each
year in our hospitality industry. We need them to make the products people want to buy
and to write the code that powers the knowledge economy. But employers can’t find
skilled workers and workers can’t find jobs. Like the rest of the country, Chicago has a
skills gap. And we can’t say we haven’t been warned.
I want to give you a set of headlines literally just from the last four weeks. From
the Wall Street Journal, November 16th and I quote, “study finds US workers under
pressure to improve skills but needs more support.” In the Wall Street Journal on
November 25th in an unexpected twist some skilled jobs go begging. I just did that to
prove to you that I read the Wall Street Journal. Thank you for the 1% pause there.
From Crain’s on December 2nd in an article titled Closing the Tech Gap, “more
than 60% of the small businesses are struggling to find skilled applicants.” From the
Chicago Tribune one week ago today on the cover of its Business page, “jobs go unfilled
as skills fall flat.” But I don’t need to read about the skills gap from the Wall Street
Journal, the Tribune or Crain’s. I see it and hear it every day from the people of the City
of Chicago.
 
Now I was on the L six weeks ago, right across from the Cell at 35th and Dan
Ryan. I met a young man. He had just left Wright Community College taking the el on
his way to his job south side at Target warehouse. That young man is doing everything
right. Everything we could ever ask him to do. He’s holding a full-time job and he’s
going to school and he’s trying to get his skills right. And when he graduates that
diploma should have economic value for him. And we cannot honestly look at ourselves
and say given he has taken responsibility we’re giving him everything he needs to do for
his opportunity. So when he graduates like the rest of us ourselves, when he puts
whatever school it is Wright, Truman, Kennedy King, Olive Harvey it should have value
to him and meaning to us as future employers. And that just doesn’t work today. And
that is the responsibility of everybody in this room to change.
And I cannot in good conscience when he walks in to interview says that Harold
Washington, Malcolm X or any of the schools on his resume that his work should pay
off. It should pay off for him. And if we work together starting tonight, it will. Because
that young man looking for opportunity and the CEO and the corporate suite looking for
skilled workers are looking for the same thing. They’re looking for each other.
The community college is the link in our, for our employees and our employers
need that has been missing in action. Companies need workers to make products, to
design products. To wire the products, to move the products, to sell the products. And
community colleges can provide them those workers.
As Mayor I can’t read the headlines about the skill gap and I can’t see it every day
and say that’s not my problem. It is my problem because I think it’s unconscionable that
you can have 10% unemployment and about 100,000 job opening in the Chicagoland area
 
and we can’t do anything about it. Those two facts do not go together in one of the worst
recession’s in our country’s history. 100,000 opening and 10% unemployment. And the
answer is right under our nose and it’s the community college system. And let’s be
candid, most community colleges offer students what they should’ve learned in high
school. Too often they provide remedial learning to compensate for gaps in their
education system of past. That is not why our community college system was
established. The community colleges historically were the catapult for the World War II
generations coming home from the battlefield. The generation of Americans who
became the most productive and economically expansive in American history. And the
community colleges can serve the same function as the 21st century. At the beginning of
the 20th century a high school education was essential for the industrial economy. At the
beginning of the 21st century, two years of quality, post secondary education are equally
essential.
That’s especially true here in Chicago when you look at our engines of economic
growth. Transportation and logistics. Healthcare sciences, IT and computer sciences,
convention and tourism. Professional services and high end manufacturing. We need our
community colleges linked up to those growth sectors and do that, and if we do that, we
need our industry leaders linked up to the schools. Because of our central location, we
are a transportation and logistics juggernaut. But we cannot rest on our location alone.
And the question is will we train the workers we need to capitalize on that advantage.
Because of our private sector industries that are the leaders in healthcare sciences, like
Abbott Labs, Walgreens, Baxter’s, All Scripts and our hospitals like Rush, Stroger,
 
Northwestern, University of Chicago merge. We are becoming a global healthcare hub.
The question is, will we train for it?
Because of McCormick Place and O’Hare we continue to be a world leader in
tourism in the convention industry. The question is will we train for it? Because of
Navistar or Ford, Mattel Steel, we serve as a natural center for high end manufacturing.
The question is, will we train for it? Because of Motorola solutions, Molex and Groupon,
we could be the nation’s next hot spot for technology and innovation the question is will
we train for it? Because we are home to great global businesses like AON, Boeing and
United and we are home to some of the great law firms, great consulting firms like
Accenture. Great accounting firms like Ernst & Young, we are professional service hub
for the larger Midwest. The question is, will we train for it? Because we’re about to
launch the largest infrastructure project in any investment for any city in the country, not
just for our water but for our roads and soon for our mass transit, we will need strong
partnership with labor. We will need workers in skilled trades. The question is, will we
train for it? And tonight here in this room, we answer that fundamental question, don’t
worry it’s not a take home exam. Tonight we charge our community colleges with a new
mission, to train the work force of today for the jobs of tomorrow. To give our students
the ability to achieve a middle class standard of living to provide our companies with the
skilled workers they need.
City’s like Miami and Louisville have tried something similar but in a single
industry. Miami matched the community college with healthcare sciences. Louisville
has linked the community college with UPS to be a leader in logistics. But this is
Chicago, we do things bigger, bolder, more ambitious and more comprehensive.
 
Something to match the diversity and the depth of our economy which is one of our
strengths.
So tonight I’m announcing that we’ll take six of our community colleges to train
students in specific growth sectors where we know we could dominate the future. We are
announcing the first two schools and their partners tonight. Malcolm X College will be
the school that drives Chicago’s leadership in healthcare sciences. Rush Medical Center,
Stroger and Northwestern Hospitals, Advocate healthcare, Baxter, Walgreens and All
Scripts have agreed to partner with Malcolm X College to develop their curriculum and
train their faculty so the workers that will drive our healthcare sciences will be trained
for the future jobs.
Olive Harvey, Olive Harvey will be the center for excellence in transportation,
distribution and logistics. They will work with UPS, Canadian National Railway, AAR,
BNSF among others. They will be Olive Harvey’s partner in modernizing their programs
and providing the training students needs to compete in the transportation, distribution
and logistics field.
As Mayor of Chicago, I cannot protect our City from either a global or a national
recession. But I can address the skills gap so that no employer in the middle of a deep
recession is without employees they need. And so that no worker is out with the skills
they need to find a job. We have a dynamic new chancellor of our community colleges,
Cheryl Hyman and I’ve appointed each of the six new city college presidents to oversee
this modernization. But this reinvention and the investments required to make our school
system world class is something that all of us must be a part of.
 
Reinvention is nothing new for the City of Chicago. Chicago went from a remote
trading post to a center of global industry. From the cinders of the great fire our City has
become a showcase of worldwide architectural fame. Chicago did not reinvent itself by
itself. Our growth was forged by those who were willing to make tough choices and the
right investments. By people who were not afraid to see the future with all its challenges
and to see the opportunities in those challenges.
Today all of us in this room must be those people as well. And tonight I ask you
to be a partner in the transformation of our community colleges. Every year for the next
three years we will modernize two schools and match them with partners in the private
sector. To train the workers for our factories, for our offices, for our hospitals, for our
hotel industry and for our infrastructure and for the computer science field. In the same
way that you help, Booth and Kellogg prepare their graduates for careers in management
and finances which is appropriate. We need to partner with the community colleges so
that their curriculums meet the sectors needs that power the Chicago economy.
I’m not talking about hiring a person or even a partnership or an internship. It’s
deeper and more fundamental than that. This is about insuring that the curriculum taught
at the community colleges provides the skills you need at your work place or your place
of employment. By making a diploma from our community colleges into a ticket for the
work force of tomorrow, we will make them the first option of job training not the last. I
do not expect you to do this alone. Our community colleges and the leaders will be right
there with you. And whatever you invest in our schools, you’ll get back many times over
because of the skilled employees who have the training to work in your operations.
 
There’s no greater investment we can make in the life of our City than the one we make
in the lives of our students. And I can tell you that personally there’s no greater reward.
Meeting young people on the campaign trail or in my visits to schools as Mayor,
that’s something I see every day. Every day our students wake up optimistic about their
future. They believe they can achieve great things. And many of them do, even against
great odds. If our students have the strength to turn obstacles into opportunities, surely as
adults we do too. Some say that comprehensive investments and all levels of education
in our communities is impossible. Today’s fiscal challenges make it more difficult.
Yes, we have to set priorities. And yes we have to make tough choices and that’s
what we’re doing tonight. But to those who say that we can’t afford to confront these
challenges, I say we can’t afford not to. And let me tell you something, we’re already
doing the changes at our K thru 12. This year alone four new charter schools have
opened serving 2,000 more students. Five more will come online next year. 23,000 more
kids this year are attending magnet schools of excellence. 6,000 more kids are getting a
full day of pre-K kindergarten. And this year at my subtle urging, 13 Chicago Public
Schools are offering a full school day.
An additional 36 charter schools serving 17,000 students citywide will join them
and transition to a full day of school. We’ve begun the largest turnaround of our
neighborhood schools. Next year ten schools will be staffed with all new principals, all
new teachers, all graduates of the AUSL Program which is a proven record of success in
our schools.
And nothing makes me prouder than this last fact. Beginning next year every
child in the Chicago Public School will get an additional 250 hours of instructional time
 
in math, science, reading, geography and history equal to the kids around the world.
Every one of our children in Chicago 55 more hours of math, 55 more hours of reading,
55 more hours of writing than they had the year before. That’s doubling down on
Chicago’s children and they deserve an equal education.
But longer hours, a full day of school and a full school year doesn’t do it all.
Because you cannot do it unless you invest in the three things that matter year in and year
out to everybody in this room because that’s how we got here. A principal that’s going to
need to be accountable. A teacher that’s motivated to teach. And a parent that is fully
engaged. You put those three (inaudible) together and I’ll give you a kid that’s ready to
go to school and ready to learn and who will be a success in life. It’s what has got us all
in this room here to join as John Canning noted the 1%. And the kids of the City of
Chicago deserve no less. They’re our kids. They’re our future. This is our City.
When it comes to modernizing our public education system and our community
colleges, I will not take no for an answer. Any business that stands pat while the world
changes is a business that’s doomed to failure. Our City has no more important business
than the education of its children. Change is always difficult, the status quo is always
more comfortable. And I want to tell you in seven months on this job, I learned that
people hate the status quo and they’re not too excited about change either. Got them
right where I want them. But when the status quo is failing, change is inevitable. We can
resolve to help shape the future or allow ourselves to be shaped by it. And the people in
this room are leaders not followers.
I’m not just talking about the members of the Economic Club. I’m talking about
the young people who have joined us tonight. This is the future of Chicago. For the kids
 
in this room and the students who aren’t here, but throughout the City of Chicago, we
must resolve to do everything we can to make sure they are successful. I firmly believe
we can overcome any obstacle if we’re willing to confront our challenges with vision and
with determination. That’s why I ran for the job of Mayor.
In the past months, we have started the fight for change. And with your help we
will continue it. We can insure that the future of our City and every student will be
unlimited. We can be sure that our children and grandchildren can be as proud to call
Chicago home as we are today.
I want to thank you. God bless you. Wish you a happy and healthy New Year
and God bless the children of Chicago.

JOHN: Thank you Rahm. That was spectacular.
MAYOR EMANUEL: Thank you.
JOHN: And I think your plan is designed to make the 1%, 2 or 3% you know it’s lonely
at 1%. If you’re successful it’ll go up to 5% so that’s great.
MAYOR EMANUEL: I think John let’s be honest, I think the 1% are trying to
figure out how I got there.
JOHN: Yeah but we love you being aboard. I convened –
 
MAYOR EMANUEL: Nothing is ever spoken more from the heart from John than
that.
JOHN: I convened the Republicans for Rahm to drop some questions. You know there’s
quite a few of them. So we have a lot of questions.
So let me, sticking on the education theme, in your inaugural address in May you
put special emphasis on the tragic gun deaths of children. How does the full school day
interface with yours and Superintendent McCarthy’s efforts to keep our streets safe and
our children safe?
MAYOR EMANUEL: Well first of all, a couple things. One I did the full school
day not for safety, although there’s an additional benefit there. I did it because we have
the shortest school day and the shortest school year. Nobody here got out of school at
2:00 o’clock or 2:15 unless you were ditching. Nobody! And our kids are out at 2:00
o’clock or 2:15. We got there till 3:30 and then we figured out our afterschool activity
and everything else. Our kids deserve a full day and a full year as many hours I just
talked about. That’s number one.
Number two, about three quarters, two thirds of all juvenile crime and victims of
crime by juveniles. A curb between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00. Why? Mom, mom and
dad or grandma are out working. Kids are out of school. A full day complimented by a
comprehensive afterschool program keeps our kids learning. Now you can put them in
an adult supervised activity, doing athletics, academics or arts. Whatever the self-image,
self-awareness needs. Whatever it is. But a full day at school with adults committed
 
ready to learn plus afterschool and we’re going to have a very, very rich school, City.
Thanks.
JOHN: Chicago will host the NATO and G8 Summits this May. And Chicago will be the
only city to have hosted those Summits since London in the 1970’s. What is your
Administration doing to prepare for such a major event? And how will those preparation
affect Chicago’s economy?
MAYOR EMANUEL: Well first of all thank you, I think this is a unique
opportunity for the City. It’s a, an event in which literally close to 3,000 to 4,000
reporters worldwide will be coming to the City of Chicago. Almost equal like the
Olympics.
Second we’ll have 45 world leaders, finance ministers, defense ministers, foreign
ministers. London as you noted hadn’t had it since 1977. It’s the type of world class,
world class attention that a City that’s with a international economic footprint and an
economic model based on international sales and marketing would crave for. We’re
preparing for it the proper way and getting ourselves organized. As you know Lori
Healey’s here. We’re working on that day in and day out, those people at the Police
Department, OEM, and all the other functions. But this is a unique opportunity and the
same way that the Olympics were for the City to present itself to the world.
Every finance member of the G8 and the 6 attending nations will be here. Every
member of the G8 heads of state plus the six additional countries from emerging markets
will be here. Every member of NATO, 28 heads of state, foreign ministers, defense

ministers will be here. Every member of ISAF not full members of NATO but partnering
countries, heads of state, defense ministers, foreign ministers will be here. It’s a unique
opportunity to tell the world what we all know and hold dear to ourselves, that this is a
world class city with world class potential.
JOHN: You know job creation is clearly a top priority of the Administration. Can you
give us more insights into your plan? And you know how have you done it in the tough
economy?
MAYOR EMANUEL: I will but if I told you I’d have to kill you.
No here’s the basic. It’s what you said John. We have great assets. First of all
our people. Everybody knows it. Midwest values, hardworking, hard ethics, hard
working ethic, hard work ethic. I get up at 5:00, way passed my bedtime.
Number two we’re centrally located. You get anywhere in the world, anywhere
in the country directly. We’re the only airport in America that, in North America that has
both major carriers. We have intermodal traffic juggernaut. We have great research
institution, great universities. We lead literally in major fields, healthcare. Some of the
leaders right here. Risk management with CME (inaudible). Business consulting,
insurance. We are the leaders in this field. McKinsey study did a report for World
Business Chicago while we’ve lost a big amount of manufacturing jobs, we’re actually
holding our own in high end manufacturing jobs. What are we doing for it? Which is
one of the things I was trying to address today.
 
So while we lead in these sectors, transportation as I said, healthcare etc. I cannot
create jobs. Now that used to be the history in the city of Chicago. Government created
jobs. I don’t. I create conditions so you can create jobs. That’s the difference. I create
conditions. Those conditions strong and stable government, good education system,
accentuate our strengths in both the private sector and public sector. We’ll never replace
our location, but we have to invest in our airport. Lot of people like the fact they can get
their employees can get from home to work conveniently. So our mass transit system has
to be developed and constantly modernized. I have to make sure lot of companies, Greg
from Walgreen’s he decided to put his E-commerce in Chicago. Why? Let’s be frank,
it’s easier to find the type of workers for that section in Chicago than it is where the
headquarters is. We have certain strengths, we need to accentuate them so the company’s
see the depth and richness of the City of Chicago. And move on that and then market it.
And ultimately I have to provide safe streets, strong schools, stable finances. You give
that, people will see leadership because we’re shaping our future and we’re not scared of
it. And if you shape your future, people will bet on leadership.
JOHN: You may have heard there was a recent high profile public trial that ended in a 14-
year sentence.
MAYOR EMANUEL: US History for two hundred.
 
JOHN: And whether we like to talk about it or not, our recent experience with corruption
in Chicago and Illinois affects the image of our City and the State. How do you plan to
address this daunting issue?
MAYOR EMANUEL: Well, John you said some of it in the introduction one of
the first things I did I wasn’t in office two hours, I signed six executive orders all related
to ethics and campaign finance reform. Second is I had the City Council make changes.
I mean you think it’s normal, but if you used to be an alderman were found corrupt
served time, you could still work on the City Council when you got out of jail. That’s
over. Now I just impaneled the leaders in the state all on ethics. Gave them 120 days to
come back with a series of reforms. It is a never ending process. But here’s something
you’ve had now in the first six months, somebody’s a lobbyist who they pay, who pays
them, who their clients are, who they lobby, who they contribute all online easy to use.
Number two used to work in my Administration, you cannot lobby for two years
when you leave. The revolving door is shut. I want what motivates you to be public
service not your rolodex development.
Three, I’m serious about that. I think it’s a high honor to be in public service.
And I want people that I hire to exude that. They may never join the 1% after that, but
that’s it.
Now the third is but also we’ve got a group and I want people cause look, I’m
going to be honest with you, I have a progressive vision. And to have that you have to
have people have trust, have an affirmative view of government. And we’re at a low end.
One of the things is we violated it both on the ethical side and how we do things. And
 
part of what the ethics is (a) that’s how I think how you should conduct yourself. Back in
2005 Senator Obama and Congressman Emanuel introduced the Ethics Reform that
passed in 2007. So I have a long history on this. I think it’s about building trust,
confidence again that public service is one of the highest callings you can do in your life.
JOHN: So if we’re sure to get gambling how do you insure the integrity of the gambling?
MAYOR EMANUEL: Well first of all, you have a strong board and you have
great board oversight. That’s number one. Number two, other cities are doing it and
there’s oversight and expansion are not inconsistent. They go together and people only
do that if they have trust in what you’re doing.
JOHN: So you mentioned we have some great assets in Chicago. You know during the
current budget constraints, how do you plan to keep Chicago a vibrant and growing city
and the physical planning of city. For instance what can we do to increase our lakefront
and river way as a recreational attraction?
MAYOR EMANUEL: First of all I want you to know Lawrence (inaudible) here.
The City Budget for the City of Chicago’s Corporate Account, the one I just passed park
district, city colleges, Chicago public school system, all four receive positive ratings by
Lawrence (inaudible). And that’s giving people confidence that we’re headed, now we
have hard work, but we’re headed in the right direction. We got this thing turned in the
right place. That’s a long time since all four of them have been praised for what we’re
 
doing about putting our fiscal house in order. And not being scared to make changes.
That’s no different than what President Preckwinkle’s doing at the County right now.
Being willing to shape the future not be scared by it.
Number two, you will see look when I got to Congress I introduced the first time
this whole concept of Lake Michigan Compact, the Great Lakes Compact. What energy
was for the last 30 years, water will be for the next 30 years. That is the most important
commodity right out that window or out that door, most important commodity. And we
have to start investing in it which is why I helped President Obama create 492 million
dollars into Great Lakes Compact.
I’ve also announced for our rivers that they will become the next recreational
frontier. And we’re putting four boathouses for kayaking, canoeing, sculling and
picnicking all along the river because when we were growing up and still today, the
river’s for moving industrial cargo and raw sewage. It is an incredible asset. We have
seven more miles of riverfront than we do lakefront. And what we all do now is just
drive over it. Value along water is 10% higher than any other property just being next to
water because of the beauty. If we invest in our river, our backyard can be as promising
for us as our front yard which is what the Lake is.
JOHN: TIF can be a powerful way to revitalize neighborhoods. But we also know that it
can be controversial. How do you view TIF, did you know, you knew that?
MAYOR EMANUEL: It comes with the job.
 
JOHN: That was not a scoop?
MAYOR EMANUEL: No.
JOHN: How do you view TIF assistance and what do you think it’s proper role should be
and shouldn’t be in Chicago’s economic development?
MAYOR EMANUEL: Look for too long, I assume everybody knows TIF’s are
Tax Increments Financing. For too long in my view, TIF’s were seen as our only
economic tool. I mean part of what I’m discussing tonight is our work force. Pat Wertz
said to me at ADM, she’s looking for welders. Forty-four bucks an hour guys plus
healthcare and pensions. That’s also true for Caterpillar. Looking for welders. With
10% unemployment people are looking for people paying forty-four bucks an hour and
can’t find them. Our work force is our great economic tool. Our airport is our great
economic tool. Our public transportation system, is our great economic tool. The people
in this room who are leaders in industry is our great economic tool. Northwestern,
University of Chicago, DePaul hopefully our community colleges is our great economic
tool. We have many economic tools. TIF is one tool and a very complicated complex
and rich toolbox. I’ve used it once to help Sara Lee come home to its rightful place,
Chicago. But I want to say this, GE has 1100 employees in the city of Chicago. The first
week I was Mayor they announced they’re going to expand another 1,000, doubling the
size. There was no TIF.
 
United was looking at Chicago and other cities for its operation center, 1300
employees. They picked Chicago. For all the assets I was talking about. Not because I
was in there with TIF, which is a legitimate thing, you have to reform it, you have to use
it strategically. But if all you do is think TIF is the only tool you have, you’re putting
everything else on the sideline and you’re not playing your best cards first.
JOHN: You know one of the early impressive things you focused on were the food
deserts on the south side and the west side. Is there a strategy to encourage small
business development, Chicago neighbors. Or are we trending towards supporting the
mini versions of the big box retailers?
MAYOR EMANUEL: You know I did a, well first of all, let me say something
about the food desert. Where I live, Amy and I, we have four or five grocery stores
within a mile. Trust me, I’m sent to them usually at about 8:00 o’clock at night. But no
serious and I meet people they have to go four or five miles to find a grocery store for
fresh fruits and vegetables. Now I want to single out Greg Wasson from Walgreens.
They’re opening 15 stores throughout the City of Chicago that aren’t the Walgreens we
know. They have five aisles with all fresh fruits and vegetables, employ 50 people.
There not just fresh fruits and vegetables for the right reason, they’re an economic engine
in those neighborhoods. They go up, there’s construction jobs. They employ pharmacy.
They move the pharmacy up front so people can get their healthcare. The right type of
food. Now as I said I merely provide opportunity, parents have to take responsibility,
walk in there and do the right thing by their kids. Can’t demand it. But I want you to
 
know this, now Greg’s going to line his economic interests because that’s job
opportunity, economic growth. Our job was to make sure that the regulatory process was
to move fast so they can move those stores.
We had a conference here. First Lady Michelle Obama came to the second one.
Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Aldi, Sav-A-Lot, we’re going to reduce the 400,000 people that
are affected by half. Give them economic opportunity, job growth and a chance to have
their kids walk by and have a normal neighborhood where they can go in and see fresh
fruits and vegetables.
Last week we announced one million dollars in micro lending for 250 small
businesses to get the type of micro lending we did it at a place called, restaurant called
Mr. Taco. Guy put together 135,000 dollars of family money, couldn’t get started. A
bank wouldn’t see him, normally. No credit rating. Micro lending facility from Axion
he’s not expanding. He’s now looking at a second business. The banks are now looking
at him because he has a credit rating. And so we’re going to create 250 new small
businesses through this micro lending that was first developed by the United States
through the UN in third world countries and the greatest markets are right here in this
country.
JOHN: The City is currently deploying a managed competition model in the
City’s recycling program. Allowing for private companies and the public sector to bid
on providing recycling services. Do you plan to replicate this model in other areas of city
services?
 
MAYOR EMANUEL: First, yes in eight different sectors tree trimming, booting,
etc. we’re doing it. Now one of the great things besides getting taxpayers the best price
for the best service, I’ve met with the workers of Streets and Sanitation, they are actually
going to this process excited. When they tell you they’re going to win. Now when was
the last time you saw a public employee say hey I want to win this?
No the competition, to do what I need to do as Mayor for all of you, the taxpayers,
I have to bring back a sense of competition, a sense of cultural change inside public
service. The fact that people doing recycling think they are out there trying to win a
contract, has already changed the way they’re delivering service. And I get every week
the reports on how Waste Management is doing against Streets and Sanitation. Both are
going to be you know represented by unions. They’re both teamsters in labors union.
It’s not private sector run, non-union versus public sector union. But the competition has
setup the process where they’re doing better and faster and quicker and getting a whole
different mindset that you find normal in the private sector is like revolutionary in the
public sector. But here’s the credit, Chicago Federation of Labor has agreed to be a
partner in that. Meaning now I’m not debating, not having a fight over it, eight sectors
mono to mono, public sector versus private sector, best service, best price, most reliable
service delivery you win. Whoever wins, the taxpayers win in the end.
JOHN: The full school day was positively received by everyone.
MAYOR EMANUEL: I wouldn’t go by everyone, but I think it was very positive.
 
JOHN: I was not done. Are there other reforms we haven’t heard about yet that are in
CPS that are doable in the context of your union contracts?
MAYOR EMANUEL: Well first of all, we just are embarking now on the largest
both what I would call the turnover of schools to schools of excellence from AUSL.
Now let me say something about the AUSL model. I went to my old Wright Community
College in my Congressional District was a kindergarten through 8th grade help create the
high school there. They trained teachers to get with the Masters education one year in the
classroom and then the graduates go to another school that becomes a neighborhood
turnaround. Not every one of these schools is a Zipporah Hightower principal at
Bethune. Scores are up. On average double what is the rest of CPS because it’s not one
teacher, one principal. The entire teacher core principal everybody removed, new
principal, new teachers. The whole system the results are not once, twice, they run 17
schools, we’re now doing ten of them in that model. And what is most impressive to me,
at each of these schools parent participation and the parent teacher conferences is at 75%.
Because if you do a good school with good teachers, parents will respond. That’s the
recipe to success.
We’re also doing an expansion of charters for the first time now Gates is funding
the charter compact. They’ll be under the oversight of CPS. They don’t loose their
independence but they’ll be accountable for results which has not happened before.
We’re also expanding our as I said we’re doubling the size, 50% increase of our
pre-K all day school. Cause you can’t make it up if you loose it in the years 1 thru 5.
 
Fourteen schools have got the state of the art security cameras that we put in Fenger. My
whole idea is to invest in the classroom and take it out of the bureaucracy.
So there’s more changes to come. We can’t afford to keep on the status quo and
the good news is the kids are showing I think the type of promise in their attendance and
what’s going on.
Let me also say John, principals for years were getting report cards for their
schools. We’re making that all available now to parents. I can’t ask parents to be
involved if I pull back information. Every school will have a four year performance
contract we could rate the performance of the principal. We’re the first school system in
the country to give principals performance pay. You improve your scores for your kids,
teacher quality, you’re going to get a bonus. It’s the first school system, the CEO of the
School System, performance pay. Principals performance pay. Teachers, performance
pay. It’s the first school system from the classroom to the corporate suite inside CPS
everybody’s on performance pay.
JOHN: Diversity is a goal we all struggle with attaining in our businesses and our
organizations. How do you approach diversity in Chicago government in your capacity
as leader of this city?
MAYOR EMANUEL: Well first of all, I want the diversity of experience and I
want the diversity of opinions. I want to make sure and I’ve seen it and one of the things
I’m most impressed having worked with both President Obama and President Clinton is
they weren’t scared to have people give a diversion of views. And you can only get the
30
diversion of views if you have diversion experiences that are brought to bear. And you
have to work on it all the time. A lot of us work at it, you can’t kind of check the box.
You’ve got to make sure you’re always making yourself accessible to a lot of views, a lot
of experiences and your appointments reflect that, top to bottom.
But I’ll also say one of the other things. I mean I take the el about once or twice
to work. I also try to get around today I was in North Lawndale doing a community tour.
Very impressive what they got there. The worst thing to do I think in public service is to
be isolated upstairs away from actual experiences. The thing I have to do is remember
the voices, the experiences and the stories of the people you meet. So you can carry it up
to your desk. Like the young man I said tonight who was on 35th and Dan Ryan, he’s
going to Harold Washington. He’s working. He has a basic agreement. He’s showing
all the things you want somebody to do. And if I didn’t hear that, and we were joking
tonight about 1%, but in all seriousness we have to in my position and I think also in
yours, you have to be able to hear the voices and the stress in peoples lives. There’s a lot
of pressure on middle class families trying to just hold on, provide for their families,
provide them a good living. Make sure their kids have a shot at a future. And the most
important thing I can do is not only have the diversity racially, sexually, ethnically is to
make sure I have a diversity of opinions that are coming to me so you don’t get isolated
in these jobs.
JOHN: I have to be honest my nomination was conditions by Andy McKenna on
finishing by 9:00 o’clock. And he said you would reconvene.
 
MAYOR EMANUEL: Where are we?
JOHN: The former chairs. I’ve got a final round of questions.
MAYOR EMANUEL: I’ve got a final round of answers.
JOHN: I have no doubt. So the way this works is I ask you a question you have to give
me the first thing that comes into your mind.
MAYOR EMANUEL: Don’t I really need Blue Cross and Blue Shield for this?
JOHN: Most fun is taking office?
MAYOR EMANUEL: I would say when we pass, although I wasn’t in office,
when we passed the legislation in Springfield for the full day and full year.
Oh let me say, no I’ll give you another one, --
JOHN: That wasn’t the rule.
MAYOR EMANUEL: I’m sorry. I’m going to give you three quick examples.
JOHN: Geez!
 
MAYOR EMANUEL: I have too many fun days obviously. We have ESPN rated
Siemon the best high school basketball team in the country. Mather High School just
won for the first time the State of Illinois in 30 years the soccer championship. They
have five continents on that team. I called the young man, 10th grader Whitney Young
National Champion Chess Champion. Our kids are great kids.
JOHN: The Farmer’s Almanac predicts the winter of 2012 will be one of the worst ever.
What do you think?
MAYOR EMANUEL: Nothing will measure against the blizzard last year. That
was a 100 a year and don’t quote me on it this winter.
JOHN: If Chicago of the 1800’s was a city of Big Shoulders, what body part represents
Chicago now?
MAYOR EMANUEL: Big mouth. No the truth is I’ve seen it every day. We have
a big heart. We’re known for big shoulders, there’s look at this. You guys love your city.
No other city can do what we do. No other city has this. We have the greatest reserve of
love and affection for our City.
JOHN: Favorite two restaurants in Chicago, one north and one south?
MAYOR EMANUEL: You have to be kidding?
 
JOHN: No. I’m not making you go west.
MAYOR EMANUEL: Okay. On the north side it’s not, it is favorite in the sense
that it’s, when I was a Congressman Amy and I used to go there for date night it’s called
Glenn’s. It’s a fish restaurant on Montrose. And then Nightwood down in Pilsen.
JOHN: Fred Busse a Republican was mayor of Chicago 104 years ago when the Cubs
won the World Series. Will the Cubs finally repeat during your Administration?
MAYOR EMANUEL: Well given that you got your first Jewish Mayor it’s a safe
bet. I will say this,
JOHN: That tells me you’re going to run several more re-election campaigns.
MAYOR EMANUEL: I will say this, I said this to my office when the Cubs
picked Theo Epstein, the Bears got Gabe, I said you know are people loosing their minds.
Nobody would ever have a Jew in sports. What the hell is going on around here?
JOHN: Who will win the Republican nomination for President?
MAYOR EMANUEL: People usually pay a lot of money for that advice John.
You know I’m actually beginning to feel sorry for Republican primary voters. Look, --
 
JOHN: I withdraw the question.
MAYOR EMANUEL: Yeah. You know what it is, look, could we shut the
cameras off.
JOHN: I withdrew the question.
MAYOR EMANUEL: Okay. Here’s how you look at it, our party always goes for
the outsider. George McGovern, people forget this, Bill Clinton was the outsider. That is
the history of our party, we go out. Republicans go corporate ladder. CFO, CEO, COO,
so you normally which is how John McCain got it, Bob Dole just look at the history of it.
Then normally you’d go Mitt Romney. But in the year like this, I wouldn’t go with
normal, Newt’s showing a stamina that is a challenge. Mitt Romney is also showing in
my view obviously Republican primary voters are having challenge you know warming
to him. That said, having watched Newt for years, I’d be interest in what happens by
Wednesday with him. So I don’t know.
JOHN: Final question, favorite four-letter word?
MAYOR EMANUEL: Love.
 
JOHN: I knew it, I knew it. Can anybody believe this is only seven months. So this
meeting is adjourned, thank you.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Emanuel to the 1%: 6 of 7 City Colleges to become Vocational Schools


 Rahm you left the 99% and joined the 1%. Welcome aboard!
John Canning, President of The Economic Club of Chicago,
welcoming Mayor Emanuel before his 12/12/11 speech

On December 12, 2011 Mayor Emanuel delivered a speech at a private meeting of The Economic Club of Chicago (ECC). There was no press, he was among friends—very rich friends. They told him so. In his introductory remarks, the new president of the ECC, John Cunning, was generous:
“Rahm rose to become the President’s Chief Political Advisor and he scored many victories during his first White House Tour including securing the North American Treaty, the North American Free Trade Agreement Passage. Rahm left the Clinton Administration in 1998 to return to Chicago embarking on a successful three year stent [sic] as an investment banker. As a result, Rahm you left the 99% and joined the 1%. Welcome aboard! Good to have you.”
So Emanuel spoke frankly. He delivered on a silver platter the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) to his business friends. In just a few minutes, the Mayor reversed many months of denials by CCC Chancellor Cheryl Hyman regarding the conversion of the CCC system into trade schools.
We are going to remake our community college system into a skills-based, vocational-based educational system,” said Emanuel to a crowd full of corporate heads. He was quite explicit about his plans:
“Every year we will modernize two new schools and match them with partners in the private sector, to train the workers for our factories, for our offices, for our hospitals, for our hotel industry and for our infrastructure.”
Explicit, in a way he and the CCC administration have not been with the media, nor the faculty, staff, and students of the CCC.
As a matter of fact, none of the press releases sent by the office of the mayor or the CCC administration regarding this speech contain any reference to the conversion of the CCC into a vocational school system. When Reader reporter Deanna Isaacs blogged about this speech, she listed the press release as her source. On our “Reinvention Mirrors” posting regarding this matter, we also used this press release, which seemed to contain more of the usual recasting of programs already in place. We were wrong. The announcements for Olive-Harvey and Malcolm X Colleges, even if they did not contain much additional meat, really described a sharp restructuring of the mission and curriculum of these colleges.
The Cat is Out of the Bag
Since our initial posting we have been arguing that in line with the professed goals of the Obama administration, the CCC administration was getting ready to transform a significant part of the CCC into a job-training, vocational-schooling direction. We emphasized that the most important (by far) Reinvention goal was the first one, which emphasized the generation of degrees with economic value. What we did not expect was that most of the system would be transformed in this direction. Let’s hear Emanuel again:
“Cities like Miami and Louisville have tried something similar — but in a single industry, with a single school. Miami matched a community college to train students in the healthcare sciences. Louisville has linked a community college with UPS to be a leader in logistics.
But this is Chicago. We need something bigger, more ambitious, and more comprehensive, something to match the diversity and depth of our economy, which is one of our strengths.
So tonight, I am announcing that we will tailor six of our community colleges to train students in a specific sector, where we know we can dominate the future.”
In our posting titled “Reinvention: Local Case of the National Scheme to Degrade Community Colleges” we had connected the Reinvention to Obama’s administration plan to transform community colleges into workforce development institutions to faithfully serve the needs of corporations, as part of his political agenda to convince the public that he was addressing the abysmal unemployment rate. As in tandem, Emanuel announces his vocationalization of the CCC in December, and a month later in his State of the Union address, this is what Obama had to say:
“Join me in a national commitment to train 2 million Americans with skills that will lead directly to a job. My administration has already lined up more companies that want to help.  Model partnerships between businesses like Siemens and community colleges in places like Charlotte, and Orlando, and Louisville are up and running.  Now you need to give more community colleges the resources they need to become community career centers -– places that teach people skills that businesses are looking for right now, from data management to high-tech manufacturing.”
Emanuel’s offer of the CCC to the corporations and businesses was made very attractive:
“In the same way that you help Booth and Kellogg prepare their graduates for careers in management and finance, we need you to partner with our community colleges — so that their curriculums meet the needs of the sectors that power the Chicago economy.
I’m not talking about hiring one person or even a partnership. It’s more than that. This is about ensuring that the curriculum taught at community colleges provides the skills you need at your place of employment.
By making a diploma from our community colleges into a ticket to the workforce, we will make them a first option for job training and not a last resort.
I do not expect you to do this alone. Our community college leaders will be right there with you. And whatever you invest in our schools, you will get back many times over in the skills of your employees and your ability to grow.”
Therefore it will be the business barons’ employees who will be in charge of rewriting the curriculum at the CCC.
Bluntly Elitist
Emanuel minces no words in making it clear that he is talking about a two-tier higher education system. One for the children of the elite, plus a minority of working class students made up of those lucky enough to sneak in, who will be able to secure a bachelors degree or more. Then there is the rest of our children who will be led down a cattle chute into the lower rungs of the work universe. Again, we let him speak:
“Now don’t get me wrong, Chicago and the state of Illinois have great institutions of higher learning. We know them: Northwestern, University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Depaul, Columbia College, Loyola, Roosevelt, UIC.
We have two of the top five business schools in the country in Booth and Kellogg. We have great law schools. In technology we have IIT, Fermi, Argonne labs, and U of I.
Chicago is also the destination of choice for graduates from the Big Ten States, be they from Madison, Columbus, Ann Arbor, Iowa City, East Lansing, Minneapolis / Saint Paul, Indianapolis, or South Bend.
What we have overlooked in the development of our workforce is the preparation of our own children. We have not developed the educational system that helps our economy grow.”
The gloomy significance of this transformation was well spelled out by a participant of a discussion regarding this matter at The Harold Lounge (Harold Washington College’s faculty discussion webpage):
“So, how will all of this effect our students? Well, the mayor and the chancellor are basically saying that our students are not capable of pursuing higher education, and should be satisfied with a vocational career. At least that way, they will be contributing members of society. This denigrates our students to the nth degree. Instead of providing access to higher education, which is the foundation and mission of community colleges, we will be limiting our students to low level jobs, with little to no opportunity for career growth. This is social injustice at it’s finest.
I’m not against partnering with businesses to provide smooth transitions into careers for our students. I’m not against creating more vocational paths for our students. What I am against is the City Colleges of Chicago telling the students of Chicago that they can achieve no higher than that, that they should settle, that they shouldn’t dream big, that they don’t need to be educated, but trained with a specific set of skills – skills that limit their opportunities for career advancement or career change.”
100,000 Unfilled Jobs?
This is not the first time that the Mayor uses the argument of a skills mismatch between inadequate level of skills of unemployed workers and an alleged 100,000 skilled-job vacancies in Illinois that go unfilled despite the high unemployment rate. This same argument is raised nationally by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the Obama administration, but with a claim of more than half a million unfilled skilled job vacancies at the national level. Bear in mind that this argument does not explain away the high unemployment numbers. Even if the 500,000 figure is accurate, this is way short of the over 13 million people looking for jobs, which excludes those who, demoralized, have given up searching for work. These figures come from surveys of manufacturers and other employers. However there is controversy around the accuracy of this claim.
A 2005 report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) says that “Employers do complain about the skills of young worker and high-school-educated workers, but it is unclear whether they are dissatisfied mainly with workers’ cognitive skills or rather with their effort and attitude.” Furthermore, last September Heidi Shierholz reported in the EPI’s blog that the a comparison of unemployment rates across all skill sectors between 2007 and 2011 showed that “all education categories have seen their unemployment rates roughly double over the last four years.” And that
“This across-the-board deterioration in the demand for workers runs directly counter to the notion that there has been some transformation of the workplace over the last four years that has left millions of workers inadequately prepared for the currently available jobs.”
John Schmitt, senior economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research, writes that 
“If there really is a shortage of skilled workers, though, we’d expect to see skilled workers’ wages rising.
But, workers with some college (including those with associates degrees) or a bachelors degree or even a masters degree suffered average real wage declines even steeper than those of high school graduates.
So, if we have a shortage of skilled workers, it is a peculiar one.”
Finally renown business journalist Doug Henwood and Philippa Dunne, co-editor of the The Liscio Report on the Economy, debunked the analysis of Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota, who claimed that the unemployment vs. vacancy rates data indicated a significant jobs skills mismatch, by using vacancy rates data extending back to the 1960s and showing that this is not the case.
So…if we do not have that scary a mismatch between unfilled skilled jobs and the number of unemployed, what really happens is that, as Heidi Shierholz says, “The U.S. doesn’t lack the right workers, it lacks work.”
Then, what is all this conversion of the CCC into vocational schools about?
It is about the money—about shifting the economic burden of training workers from businesses to students and tax payers. As MSNBC Senior Producer John Schoen explains, “But there’s less agreement on where the money will come from to train those jobless workers. Nobody, it seems, wants to pick up the tab.” Then he goes on to quote Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce:
“The commitment between employer and employee has gone down. And (employers) don’t want to take five years to get you ready. They want you ready to start working — and learning — the day you walk in the door.
But they don’t want to do qualifying training.”
Businesses and corporations have been plundering us for several decades now. First, they began cutting our wages and benefits, then they began moving production from the north of the U.S. to the south. That was not enough. They proceeded with a major campaign to outsource production from the U.S. to other low-wage countries. Simultaneously, they went, with the complicity of politicians, to privatize public services. These last two trends continue to advance to this day. But this is still not enough. Despite having their tax payments drastically reduced over the past three decades—to the extent that plenty of major corporations pay no taxes—now they want to transfer the cost of training their own workers to the students and to the tax-paying working class.
Make no mistake, when the Obama administration, business economists, and the likes of Emanuel talk about the new trend of onshoring or insourcing jobs, they are talking about the U.S. becoming the cheap labor center of the advanced economies. The jobs that are currently being onshored are jobs coming at the expense of Canadian workers. Yes, manufacturing is being outsourced from Canada into the U.S., but only because our average wages have become so pitiful over the past four decades. The dynamics are brilliantly described by Doug Henwood:
“American workers are very productive but they earn a lot less. Caterpillar claims that its workers in Illinois cost the firm less than half as much as their comrades in Ontario. Over the last decade, unit labor costs—wages and benefits paid per dollar of output—have fallen by 13% in the U.S. They rose by 2% in Germany, 15% in Korea, and 18% in Canada. When you factor in transportation and other costs, U.S. workers in some sectors are starting to become competitive with China, where wages have been rising sharply for years and workers have developed a habit of striking and ransacking the boss’s office. The trend towards bringing factory work back to the U.S. even has a name: onshoring. A revival of manufacturing would be good in many ways, but one based largely on low wages and high levels of exploitation is not something to cheer.”
So many the jobs for which Emanuel wants young people to train are meant to be jobs with much lower wages and benefits than they would have been in the past. Jobs that some other day may be outsourced again, leaving millions of workers with a limited number of skills looking again from outside the window.
During his ECC speech Emanuel conflated the role of community colleges after WWII with what he is proposing as his new scheme.
“Community colleges were the catapult for the World War II generation coming home from the battlefield, the generation of Americans who became the most productive and economically expansive in American history. They can serve that same function in the 21st century.
Tonight, we charge our community colleges with a new mission: to train the workforce of today for the jobs of tomorrow; to give our students the ability to achieve a middle class standard of living; to provide our companies with the skilled workers they need.”
This is misleading at the least, dishonest at its worst. After WWII, communities colleges, under a President Truman directive, became the democratizing bridges for working class students to secure bachelors degrees and join the ranks of the many teachers, engineers, etc. required to build the U.S. economy through the longest economic boom this country has ever had. Under Emanuel’s plan that bridge is destroyed, and a diverging road is being built into a vocational training cul-de-sac. In this highly racially segregated city, the neighborhoods where the Olive-Harvey and Daley Colleges reside are overwhelmingly African American and Latino, respectively. The turning of these two colleges into strictly vocational schools severs the path for these students to go on to obtain a bachelors degree or a profession. Even if not consciously intended, the outcome will be a racist tracking of Black and Latino young men and women away from a genuine higher education degree.
For the sake of our community colleges, for the sake of our children and our communities, it is time to stop Emanuel in his tracks.

PEARL