Orbitz, the online airline consortium, chose Chicago over California. Centerpost, a leading wireless tech company, chose Chicago because of its quality of life and huge technology talent pool. Nothing is more important to a city's economic future than the quality of its schools, and Chicago's education reform efforts are looked to as a model for the country. Chicago has a fundamental commitment to turn the public education system around after years of failing. We have much more to do, but we have an entire city behind our efforts to graduate students who are prepared with the reading, math, and other skills needed to join the workforce.
Life is good in Chicago, and it's only going to get better.
He mistakenly quotes me as saying the case against the companies remains unproven. I have said repeatedly that the Firestone tire and the Ford Explorer make a lethal combination. Crock selects statistics to back his thesis that the controversy was overblown. But defect determinations cannot be based solely on numbers that compare failure rates with other models of tires or vehicles. The government never has complete numbers on what causes highway deaths and ethically cannot wait for a body count to order a recall, although in this case there has been a grim toll.