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RALEIGH - An idea had been nagging at Gov. Mike Easley since late in his first term. Teachers, parents, administrators and politicians had been selling students on the need to finish high school, telling them it was the path to a good job.

But by 2004, most all of the jobs economic developers were bringing to the state required more advance training, often a community college degree. Then came Unilin, a Belgian-based flooring maker that was looking to expand in the Triad. The state was negotiating an incentives package and Easley said he asked an executive there what employees needed in terms of an education.

"They said, 'associate's degree.'

"For flooring?

"'If we could do it with no skill we wouldn't be in the United States,'" Easley recalled them telling him. "I said that does it. I came back and said we're going to give everybody college for free."

Unilin went on to expand its presence in Davidson County.

And Easley went on to push for a package of high school programs that allow students to earn an associate's degree by staying in school an extra year and then go on to college if they're willing to work and keep their grades up.

The push for education funding - from the More-at-Four pre-kindergarten program to expanding early college - has been a hallmark of Easley's tenure. He acknowledges the state's high-school dropout rate remains high but says it will come down as more students see a clearer path to work.

The News & Record asked Easley to reflect on his tenure during an interview last week. Here's some of what he had to say.

Q: You were a proponent of the lottery. Are you satisfied with its performance?

A: "We've got a million dollars a day going into the school system and that pays for the most regressive segment of our education system, which is the pre-k, class size, eliminating the achievement gap. ... Yes, I'm satisfied with where they are. They're not over-advertising, everything is done with good taste."

Q: Back during the presidential primary, you came in on behalf of Sen. Hillary Clinton even as now president-elect Barack Obama gathered steam here in North Carolina. Why?

A: Easley said he had worked with Clinton on education issues and pledged his support to her early on, even before the first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucuses.

"I told Sen. (John) Edwards I wasn't going to go to Iowa and endorse him and I had told Hillary (Clinton) that I would support her but that I didn't want to do anything while John was out there," Easley said. He didn't want to damage Edwards' chances by having his home state government endorse another candidate.

By the time the primary came to North Carolina, Edwards had dropped out of the race and Clinton called in the support he had promised.

"It was a difficult decision because emotionally, I was replaying this Harvey Gantt situation and I really, emotionally, wanted to be with Obama," Easley said. But he kept his promise to Clinton.

Clinton, he said, lost by the same margin to Obama in North Carolina that Easley lost to Gantt in the 1990 Democratic primary run-off.

Q: You began your career as a prosecutor and ended up bringing corruption charges against many local officials. Have you been surprised by scandals like the ones that saw former House Speaker Jim Black, former Agriculture Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps and former Rep. Thomas Wright go to jail?

A: "As much corruption as I've prosecuted over the years, I still get surprised. If those people that I prosecuted back then - we campaigned together, I thought I knew them well.

"And then up here, I didn't know Meg that well but knew her family.

"Well, yes, I was surprised at the level at which it occurred.

"...I learned as a prosecutor you can't use the law to create morality. You can punish people for being immoral and illegal in their conduct."

Q: You also made a name prosecuting high-profile drug cases early in your career. In some instances, those led to death threats. Do you still have concerns?

A: "They're all getting paroled at the same time I am ... I guess I'm back to where I was. What goes around comes around. I hope they're not as poor sports as when they got convicted for trying to kill me. Maybe they've gotten over it and mellowed with age. But, you know, I'm always aware."

Q: You said you were in better physical shape when you came into office?

A: "When I came in here I used to jump the back fence, there weren't any cameras back there - they've got them now - and I could run all the way to the convention center - before they tore it down - and back and jump back over the fence. That's the way I got away by myself."

Q: I bet that aggravated your security detail.

A: "They had kind of a prayer meeting about that. I was down there one day, I ran ... and they figured out I was gone ... and I had tagged the (convention center) and started back and cramped up ... and went down right in front of what was Belk up there. And it was just me. It was dark and some wino came over there and was trying to help, was offering me wine.

"He took the top off: 'You need some of this. You'll be all right,'" Easley related.

In the meantime, a trooper had found him after driving up and down the street.

"He says, 'Why don't you just ask your buddy to give you a ride back up to the mansion, he can carry you over his shoulder, and we just won't bother with you no more."

Q: What's next for you?

A: "I want to take a little bit of time, clear my head, think. If I had to answer today, I know I'm going to give a lot of free time to things associated with children and education.

I want to give back because I haven't had a bad year - things have come pretty easy to me for 58 years and I just feel like I owe something back. I'll do something to make a little bit of money, but I don't need a lot."

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com