For the last several days I’ve been trying to think of something nice to say about Barbara Byrd-Bennett’s three-year tenure as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools. The best I could come up with is that she put a genial face on the dumb ideas that popped out of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s brain.
As you probably know, Byrd-Bennett took a paid leave of absence last week, just a couple of days after word broke that the FBI was investigating her role in the awarding of a $20.5 million no-bid principal-training contract to a company called Supes Academy, for whom she once worked.
In the category of good news, only a few months remain on B-3’s $250,000-a-year contract. In contrast, Brizard had about 14 months left on his contract when the mayor ran him out of town.
There’s certainly never been a CEO in my lifetime who stood up to the mayor when it comes to how billions of taxpayer dollars get spent.
It was also on Byrd-Bennett’s watch that CPS signed on to the deal that doubled the cost of a pre-K program by borrowing the money instead of paying for it right out of the budget. As a result the lenders will get as much as $17 million in interest that could have been used to fund other school programs.
Hey, there’s an idea: make Sarah the schools CEO! I bet you she wouldn’t let the mayor get away with those TIF diversions.
