Politics & Government
Former Chicago Schools Chief Indicted in Kickback Scheme
Barbara Byrd-Bennett is accused of taking bribes to steer a $20 million no-bid contract to her former company.
The U.S. attorney’s office will stage a news conference at the Dirksen Federal Building at 2 p.m.
Several others reportedly are also under federal indictment in connection with the scheme, including SUPES Academy executives.
Reports the Chicago Sun-Times:
Byrd-Bennett — Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s handpicked choice — becomes CPS’ first CEO to face criminal charges in connection with her job. Federal authorities have been investigating the contract — the largest no-bid CPS deal in recent memory — for more than a year.
Receiving the contract in 2013 to train principals was The SUPES Academy, owned by former Niles Township High School dean Gary Solomon and his former student Thomas Vranas. It generated controversy at the time because SUPES was not known for training principals while many other, respected organizations did that very job. The deal continued to draw criticism as some educators questioned the quality of SUPES’ training.
A Chicago Public Schools inspector general probe was initiated this spring after in-depth reporting by Catalyst Chicag’s Sarah Karp:
The inspector general’s investigation was spurred by a Catalyst investigation that detailed Byrd-Bennett’s connection with the for-profit, Wilmette-based SUPES Academy. Byrd-Bennett had worked as a coach for SUPES until she was hired at CPS and there’s some evidence that she continued to consult with related companies after she was on CPS’ payroll. In June 2013, the School Board quietly awarded SUPES the $20 million contract, which was the largest no-bid contract in the district’s recent history, according to Catalyst’s review of board reports.
Wendy Katten of the parent group Raise Your Hand called it “frustrating” that the board ignored the apparent conflict of interest.
In 2013, when the contract was awarded, Catalyst began asking questions about the decision, as well as other contracts previously given to SUPES.
The $20 million contract is the fourth awarded to SUPES since October of 2012. The three other contracts include two for $2 million each and a third for $225,000 for consulting services. In 2011-12, the Chicago Public Education Fund paid for training of Chiefs of Schools and Network Chiefs.
Education experts contacted by Catalyst say that the intensive training that SUPES Academy says it will offer is needed and was a missing piece of the puzzle in the district’s efforts to get top leadership at the helms of schools.
Yet in a city that is home to major universities and non-profit organizations that train and support principals, the for-profit Supes Academy got the contract without competition. (CPS considers the contract a “sole-source request,” the same as a no-bid contract.) The SUPES website states that the organization runs similar academies in 14 school districts, most of them small.
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