Sources said an interim CEO, Chicago Board of Education Vice President Jesse Ruiz, would be appointed to replace Byrd-Bennett and get on with the serious business of averting another teachers strike, fending off bankruptcy at the Chicago Public Schools and persuading the Illinois General Assembly to grant CPS the pension relief pivotal to avoid going broke.

There was no way Byrd-Bennett could confront those issues with any credibility with a legal cloud over her head, City Hall sources said.
Byrd-Bennett has hired a defense attorney, and sources said her homes in Chicago and the Cleveland area have been searched by federal investigators.
As for her replacement, Ruiz is a former state board of education chairman who was chosen because he will have no problem taking on the job. He is the fifth CEO at CPS since 2010.
“He’s respected inside and outside the organization. He has long experience dealing with Springfield on issues front-and-center for CPS. And he hits the ground running,” said a top City Hall source who asked to remain anonymous.
Top CPS officials are being called into a meeting about the issue, and a news conference is expected to be held later Friday.
CPS is facing a $1.1 billion budget shortfall and a $9.5 billion pension crisis. The teachers contract expires this summer.
It’s not clear whether Byrd-Bennett’s leave of absence from her $250,000-a-year job would be paid or unpaid. Sources said that’s still being negotiated.


Asked whether Byrd-Bennett would ultimately get her job back and potentially get a new contract after the current agreement expires June 30, a source said, “Prosecutors will answer that question.”
The subject of the federal investigation is a $20.5 million no-bid contract awarded to Wilmette-based SUPES Academy, a company that once employed Byrd-Bennett as a trainer.
The contract raised eyebrows even before principals started complaining about the poor quality of training.
That’s because there seemed to be no legitimate reason to award a no-bid contract in a field with hundreds of competitors across the nation doing the same thing.
The SUPES training contract was ratified by Emanuel’s hand-picked board. Board President David Vitale even defended it publicly. And it’s clear that the board will face serious questions about why it never aggressively questioned the deal.
But sources said it’s clear from the documents that the FBI has requested and the people that agents are interviewing that the board is not part of the investigation. The feds are focusing on the company and Byrd-Bennett. Underscoring that point is the search by the feds of Byrd-Bennett’s homes. A spokesman for SUPES Academy has also confirmed that the business has handed over CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett taking leave amid probe | Chicago: