Company used convicted Chicago schools chief in 'highly unethical' work to win millions in CPS business, watchdog finds
A for-profit company that educates at-risk students won tens of millions of dollars from Chicago Public Schools with help from then-CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and her co-conspirators in a separate bribery scandal, the school district’s inspector general found in a report released Tuesday.
That “highly unethical conduct” was essential for Camelot Education to open four CPS campuses several years ago, Inspector General Nicholas Schuler’s office said in the report. Camelot now operates six schools in CPS, with a total of about 800 students, and the Texas-based company has received more than $67 million in district business, the IG said.
Schuler’s office asked the Chicago Board of Education to disqualify Camelot and two unnamed company executives from future business with CPS. If the board concludes doing so would be too disruptive, Schuler recommended the board fine Camelot $6.7 million and appoint an independent monitor to review the company’s conduct for three years.
Schuler concluded Camelot first won “behind-the-scenes access” to Byrd-Bennett and top staff plus “confidential inside information” with help from Gary Solomon and Thomas Vranas — two consultants who served as Camelot’s “undisclosed lobbyists” before they were indicted and convicted in federal court alongside Byrd-Bennett for organizing a kickback scheme that upended the district.
Schuler’s report does not allege any criminal behavior occurred as part of the Camelot case.
“We’re alleging ethical violations and procurement violations,” Schuler told the Tribune.
But the IG’s investigation illustrates how Byrd-Bennett’s disgraced administration continues to reverberate in a school system that’s sought to clean up its reputation for crisis and scandal. It also shows how a murky array of lobbyists, attorneys and consultants can influence the awarding of public contracts with minimal oversight.
CPS pledged Monday to strengthen vendors’ requirements to report lobbying activity, and also to launch a process that, following the inspector general’s recommendations, may sanction Camelot or disqualify the company from future business with the district.
That raises the prospect of shutting down the firm’s Chicago schools, although CPS argues state law would prohibit any closures at least until August 2019.
“The actions uncovered by the Office of the Inspector General undermined the best interests of Chicago students, city taxpayers, and the honest, hard-working educators and administrators who have worked to dramatically improve schools throughout the city,” CPS spokesman Michael Passman said in a statement.
A negotiated settlement could occur instead of a shutdown. Camelot executives disputed Schuler’s report as inaccurate.
Schuler’s examination of Camelot centers on behavior that largely occurred between 2012 and 2013. Authorities also investigated Byrd-Bennett, Solomon and Vranas for steering multimillion-dollar no-bid contracts to the SUPES Academy education consulting firm in exchange for the promise of lucrative kickbacks during the same time period.
The trio were eventually indicted for their roles in that scheme, pleaded guilty and are now Continue reading: Company used convicted Chicago schools chief in 'highly unethical' work to win millions in CPS business, watchdog finds - Chicago Tribune
Former Chicago Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett leaves the Dirksen Federal Courthouse after she was sentenced on bribery charges in 2017. File Photo. | James Foster/For the Sun-Times
CPS Inspector general: For-profit Camelot Education had unfair bid help from Barbara Byrd-Bennett, SUPES owners -http://bit.ly/2mVnlok
