Teachers union sees 'culture of conflict' at CPS
City and school officials today maintained a nearly total silence on the legal woes of Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and her job tenure, which came to light yesterday, but the vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union had some comments, and they bit hard.
In a press conference today, Jesse Sharkey said he doesn't know enough yet to say whether Byrd-Bennett should step down, but he made clear his view that CPS never should have approved a $20 million consulting contract with a private principal training agency where Byrd-Bennett worked until she went to work for CPS.
That's the issue federal agents are probing, with the training outfit, Wilmette-based Supes Academy, conceding in a statement that federal agents have obtained "records and files" from it as part of an investigation into CPS.
Sharkey said the Board of Education should not have approved the 2013 pact, given Byrd-Bennett's relationship with the academy.
"It's suspect. It has the smell of not being ethical," Sharkey told reporters. "It undermines confidence in public schools."
Even worse, he added, the Supes contract was one in a series in which "public officials with private interests" have appeared to gain from their private position.
One alleged conflict that Sharkey mentioned struck me as pretty lame. That's Board of Education President David Vitale's former position in 2001-02 as head of the Chicago Board of Trade, which makes a trading market in some financial instruments—specifically, interest-rate swaps—that have cost CPS tens of millions of dollars.
Perhaps more on target was his reference to board member Deborah Quazzo, who reportedly has an ownership interest in companies that have received more than $5 million in contracts from CPS or CPS charter schools since she joined the board.
"We've seen a pattern," Sharkey said. "There's a culture of conflict of interest that is highly destructive of the public's trust."
If Byrd-Bennett does have to step down, he said, her successor will be the school system's fifth CEO in four years.
Meanwhile, CPS is scheduled to return to the bond market next week to seek $300 million in new borrowing. The district's finances already are under strain, with CPS facing a budget deficit of more than $1 billion for the next school year. Now it has a CEO under federal probe.
A CPS spokesman today said only that there is "nothing new" to report. Aides to Mayor Rahm Emanuel say the same thing—and insist that the mayor didn't know of the probe until earlier this week, even though the Chicago Tribune reports it has been underway for well over a year.Teachers union sees 'culture of conflict' at CPS - Blogs On Politics - Crain's Chicago Business:
A CPS spokesman today said only that there is "nothing new" to report. Aides to Mayor Rahm Emanuel say the same thing—and insist that the mayor didn't know of the probe until earlier this week, even though the Chicago Tribune reports it has been underway for well over a year.Teachers union sees 'culture of conflict' at CPS - Blogs On Politics - Crain's Chicago Business: