Latest CPS Scandal Highlights Chicago’s Need for Democratically Elected, Representative School Board
BY CTU COMMUNICATIONS | 04/16/2015
CHICAGO—The federal investigation of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Chief Executive Officer Barbara Byrd-Bennett’s role in a no-bid $20.5 million contract underscores why the majority of Chicagoans expressed their support for a democratically elected representative school board (ERSB). Appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, members of the Board of Education and high-ranking school district administrators have faced repeated ethics scrutiny since assuming power in 2010.
Dr. Byrd-Bennett, the fifth schools chief in the last 48 months, is under an FBI investigation for her role in the awarding of a lucrative, no-bid contract to her former employer, SUPES Academy in 2013. The contract was approved in the same session that closed the largest number of public schools in U.S. history. SUPES offers professional development to principals and has been publicly denounced by participants and education critics as a costly and ineffective public policy initiative.
Now many taxpayers, including parents, educators and students, are bracing themselves for the possible appointment of a sixth CPS chief executive officer in the wake of this new fiscal scandal. It should be noted, Byrd-Bennett has not been accused of a criminal act and remains at the CPS helm.
Because Mayor Emanuel has been steadfast in his opposition to an ERSB in Chicago, the Board’s decision to blindly award the SUPES contract without stronger scrutiny rests at his feet. “Twenty million dollars can put teachers, counselors, librarians and nurses in our schools,” said CTU President Jesse Sharkey. “The mayor has the ultimate authority over what’s happening in our district. This new scandal leads to more instability in our school buildings and more revolving doors at CPS.
“Educators don’t know what to expect when they continue to bear the brunt of the so-called ‘shared sacrifices’ being heaped upon them while CPS officials spend millions on new furniture; dole out multi-million dollar contracts to their cronies; and, appear to profit from the decisions they make,” Sharkey added.
In December, the CTU called for the immediate resignation of Chicago Board of Education memberDeborah Quazzo amidst reports that companies she owns have been paid nearly $3 million by CPS since her appointment to the Board by the mayor. Coupled with the nearly $1 million in contracts paid to Quazzo’s companies from 2010 until her June 2013 appointment, the Board’s newest member continues to profit at the expense of the city’s school children to the tune of nearly $4 million from her private investments in companies with lucrative contracts with CPS. Quazzo is a leading tech “edu-preneur” involved in expanding the profiteering of tech companies from public schools.
In another possible breach of public trust, Board president David Vitale advocated for toxic interest rate swap agreements with Loop Capital, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and the Royal Bank of American that will cost the district more than $430 million over the lifetime of the agreements. Having been president of the Chicago Board of Trade, Vitale came directly from the world of speculative finance, where he often worked with these same partner banks to construct such toxic agreements. Recently, he has refused to consider filing suit to claw money back from the district’s costly deals. The board president is also the former board chairman of the Academy of Urban School Leadership (AUSL), which has greatly expanded the number of schools and funding it receives from “turnarounds” decided on by the mayor’s handpicked Board since Vitale began his tenure.
Board member Carlos Azcoitia voted to turnaround three schools in 2014 and five schools in 2013, but recused himself from voting on the contract with AUSL because he currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Practice in Educational Leadership at National Louis University. National Louis is the AUSL’s exclusive teacher preparation partner.
Board member Mahaila Hines is the mother of Grammy Award-winning rapper Common. She also serves as president of the Common Ground Foundation which hosted its AAHH! Fest in 2014, co-sponsored in part by Aramark, a company that was awarded a lucrative custodial contract in in Feb. 2014, and the Chicago Urban League. It should be noted, the controversial company which been plagued with allegations of poor sanitation and unfair labor practices also took over the school district’s food contract in 2012 following a scandal with the previous food contractor. Dr. Hines and CPS Board member Andrea Zopp, who heads the Urban League, reportedly skipped the Aramark vote.
CPS Chief Administrative Officer Tim Cawley was a finance administrator at AUSL before taking a position at the Board as Chief Operating Officer. He was also quoted describing the Board’s rationale of deliberately starving schools of resources and upgrades when CPS anticipates a future closure or turnaround.
While no Board member or other CPS administrator has been accused of any wrongdoing, both past and current relationships some of them have with companies that profit from their authority over the city’s school district continue to raise eyebrows.
“There's a culture of conflict of interest that is highly destructive of the public's trust,” Sharkey said.
Chicago has never had an elected school board, unlike 98 percent of school districts across the U.S., and all other districts in Illinois. Over the years the City had a series of arrangements, including City Council appointments and nominating commissions. In 1995, the state legislature gave the mayor full authority over CPS, including the appointment of the Board of Education. On February 24, voters in 37 of Chicago’s 50 wards overwhelmingly endorsed an ERSB, calling for an end to mayoral control. A similar referendum in 2012 resulted in 87 percent of Chicago residents voting in 13 percent of the city’s precincts for an ERSB in a non-binding referendum.
The Chicago Teachers Union is currently in contract negotiations with the Board of Education.Chicago Teachers Union | Latest CPS Scandal Highlights Chicago’s Need for Democratically Elected, Representative School Board: