Daley hopes to find new schools chief quickly

As you know Ron Huberman is expected to leave his post as Schools CEO before the year is out. Daley is leaving the Mayor's office next year and he wants to consider a replacement who can be acceptable to the incoming mayor, whoever that person may be.

Speaking at a landscape awards event at the downtown Hyatt Regency, Daley said he will be interviewing candidates and looking for someone "who will able to take the reins until the next mayor is elected, and he or she will then in turn review that person's position and be able to accept that person or move on." Daley said he has not yet spoken with Terry Mazany, CEO of the Chicago Community Trust, who sources say is the front-runner to lead the budget-strapped school district. Under Mazany's leadership, the Trust has been pouring money and energy into the schools.

And he is not considering City Clerk Miguel del Valle for the position, the mayor said. Del Valle, who has announced his candidacy for mayor, represented Chicago in a failed bid to get federal funding from the "Race to the Top" program, as part of a statewide team.

Daley said he wants both the CEO position and the city post of chief education officer filled by the end of the year.