Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Arne and Karen Duncan's Secret Log

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Arne and Karen Duncan's Secret Log:

Arne and Karen Duncan's Secret Log

by Mike Klonsky

Duncan & Daley used the city's elite schools as patronage.

During Arne Duncan's reign as Mayor Daley'shand-picked schools CEO, he kept a "secret log" to manage requests by clout-heavy political donors and VIPs, to get many of their otherwise unqualified kids into the city's elite "public" schools.

Although the log itself, (requests coming directly from Duncan appear as “AD” on the log. Petitions from Duncan’s wife, Karen appear as “KD” on the log) was only recently revealed by WBEZ, this is not a new story. It only got new legs last week when it was learned that Republican billionaire candidate for governor, Bruce Rauner's daughterwas one of Duncan's back-door clout recipients of a seat at Walter Payton College Prep.

The Duncan family's creative use of public education money has carried over to his policies at the DOE where he