Barbara Byrd-Bennett, former CEO of the Chicago public schools, is expected to plead guilty to charges of taking a kickback from a $23 million contract to a company she once worked for. Now, other contracts are under scrutiny, including a contract to a company owned by Robert Bobb, former leader of the Educational Achievement Authority in Detroit.
““Chicago Tonight” has learned of a probe into another contract where a firm with ties to Byrd-Bennett received CPS business. This as Byrd-Bennett is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to charges that she steered $23 million in CPS money to SUPES Academy and Synesi Associates in exchange for bribes and kickbacks.
“The arrangement in question: a $31 million contract to help CPS manage the controversial closing and consolidation of 50 schools that took place two years ago. It’s under scrutiny, “Chicago Tonight” has learned, because of ties between former CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and one of the companies that received that business.
“A company called Global Workplace Solutions won the $30.9 million bid to help close the schools. The duties involved relocating records, removing contents, furnishings and equipment from the closed schools, and then securing the closed schools. A portion of the business was subcontracted to a company called The Robert Bobb Group, a company run by Robert Bobb, the former Emergency Financial Manager for Detroit Public Schools. Bobb hired Byrd-Bennett in Detroit in 2009 as Chief Academic Auditor and paid her a salary of $18,000 per month.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
As a former CPS Special Education teacher, I am glad the issue of no-bid contracts is finally being exposed. This is not new to the CPS. This is more apt to happen when you do not have an elected School Board. That is why we must insist that we change this and elect our School Board members.
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This Broad Academy graduate. Byrd-Bennett…a failed CEO and Superintendent in various cities by causing major disruption, and now seemingly guilty of being ‘on the take’ in Chicago, probably belongs in prison for using/abusing and manipulating the public’s money. She clearly does not have any interest in fiduciary responsibility.
John Deasy at LAUSD, also a Broad Academy classmate of hers, did his own dirty deeds to destroy the district, and Eli Broad rewarded him by making him Supt. in Residence of the Broad Academy, and also appointed Deasy to be point man in “rapidly” turning another 50% of LAUSD public schools, into profitable charter schools. Broad and more of the Waltons are also moving fast to do this in New Orleans (see Mercedes report today.)
These birds of a feather all need to be investigated by the FBI and other agencies to find their many purported malfeasances and misfeasances when dealing with and spending the public’s taxes.
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I probably shouldn’t get my hopes up that this investigation will lead to its logical conclusion, should I? I mean, CPS is a direct wing of the Mayor’s office. It doesn’t even matter whether he knew or not (although we all know he did). In the unlikely event he didn’t, that’s just as bad anyway.
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What’s the logical conclusion?
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FLERP,
Logical conclusion is that mayoral control is a setup for corrupt dealing
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Logical conclusion is that hizzoner is neck deep in it too. So when does he get investigated?
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“There’s no doubt, in selecting (Byrd-Bennett), I played a role,” Emanuel said. “But Barbara and the officials with SUPES, they concocted this and, in fact, my staff did the right thing by asking hard questions and directing those questions to the people trying to pursue that contract.”
There’s that awesome accountability and rigor again 🙂
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Must have been very “hard” questions
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Why didn’t they just give the money to the schools instead of paying a fortune to shut them?
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Diane,
Robert Bobb was the first Emergency Manager over Detroit Public Schools appointed by then MI governor Jennifer Granholm.
John Covington was the first Chancellor to the EAA appointed by the current Michigan governor Rick Snyder.
Both of whom should also be brought up on charges as well.
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The Feds need to extend their investigations to Detroit Public Schools, because there may have been a few more no bid contracts involving Barbara Byrd-Bennett and Robert Bobb.
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It’s times like this that try men’s (and women’s) souls, hoping against hope, waiting patiently for the sound of the rest of the domino’s to begin falling. Is that the smell of emails being deleted?
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How much fraud has to occur before Congressional hearings? If members of the Benghazi committee had wine glasses engraved with “glacial pace”, the failure to investigate Broad and Gates’ meddling in education, warrants kegs, under a camouflage
tarp, in the basement of Congress.
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This particular instance crystallizes everything that’s both vicious and venal about so-called education reform: social vandalism, represented by mass public school closings, combined with high level corruption and looting.
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There’s something wrong here concerning this sudden exposure and guilty pleas of this woman. It’s too quick and too neat. Focusing on her distracts us from the real issue, Rahm and other money men’s involvement and schemes to defraud public education in Chicago. This superintendent is just the tip of the iceberg that hasn’t been exposed. It’s happening all over the country and in my opinion, the FBI, under RICO, should be investigating this whole reform/deform movement. It has key elements of organized crime that extents beyond state borders.
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