In the closing session of the Winter Meeting, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley addressed education issues, specifically school construction. He stressed that school construction should be able to reach beyond politics and ideology; it is a priority on which Congress should be able to reach agreement.

Mentioning the amount of money Chicago has already spent on rebuilding their own school system, he acknowledged the need for more money in order to complete the process. Vouchers, charter schools, testing and money mean nothing if the children are unable to attend school because their building is falling apart or it is simply not big enough to provide an adequate environment for learning. "Bricks and mortar aren't ideological, they aren't partisan and they're not just a local problem. This is where the federal government should get involved," stated Mayor Daley.

Today's schools are plagued by overcrowding and aging. The average age of a school in the United States is 42 years. Politicians claim to be concerned about education, they support vouchers or testing or charter schools, but if the building itself is not big enough or adequate for teaching, the other issues become irrelevant. Mayor Daley emphasized how important it is to rebuild, as well as build new schools in order to show students how important we, as a nation, view schools. "Schools should be anchors of our neighborhoods and a source of pride. But when they're in a state of disrepair, they become a blight," Mayor Daley said.

Chicago found the money to pay for their own new improvements to the system through the aid of tax dollars from the residents of Chicago. Only one cent of every dollar was provided by the federal government. $2.6 billion dollars were used in Chicago to improve the school district, and more is still needed. Mayor Daley pointed out that, "the fact is, it's more than twice as much as Congress appropriated last year for school construction for the entire nation." It is time the federal government finally acted on their education promises.

School construction should be a top priority for both the federal government, as well as local governments. While not all mayors have direct control over their school districts, Mayor Daley called on them all to address this issue with their own cities. He asked them to not only ask for money to improve existing schools, but to call on Congress and this new Administration to provide the funding for constructing new schools so that our children are prepared for life and work in the 21st century.