Bates has been hosting CPS Show Trials since 1997 (Englewood 'Reconstitution')... Outrage at conduct of Casals hearing grows
Attorney Fred Bates (above, second from left) has been presiding over the Show Trials utilized by CPS to fire teachers and privatize public school since 1997, when he presided over the first round of "Reconstitution" hearings and was featured in a Sun-Times article bashing the teachers of Englewood High School. The photograph above, taken during the January 28 2010 Hit List hearings, is unique because it shows the continuity in the Bates career. In the background above at (right to left) Board of Education member Alberto Carrero, Board member Peggy Davis, and CPS "Chief Performance Officer" Sarah Kremsner. Davis, Carrero and Kremsner were all gone by January 2012, but Bates was still presiding over CPS Show Trials and rubber stamping CPS's very shifting "performance matrices." Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.For many of those trying to get the facts across to the Chicago Board of Education at the January 30, 2012 hearings on the proposed turnaround of Casals Elementary School, the behavior of hearing officer Fred Bates was outrageous. Bates simply ignored the facts, berated the speakers, coddled the Board's witnesses (no matter how outrageous the claims they were putting into the record), and went about his usual job of collecting the five and six-figure fees he has been drawing for at least 15 years from CPS for hearings and other miscellaneous tasks on command.
By: Maria Guerrero
Fred Bates
The Casals community had NO idea that Mr. Bates has a long history with CPS , and that he does indeed get paid by them. We believed him when he said he was not an employee of CPS ( he said it 2x) and thought we were addressing an impartial officer. It is SO disappointing to be played like this , to have all those speakers stand before him , all the faxes that were sent to him, and then to know this is what was really going on. In my 2 minute speech, I spoke about the immoral behavior of CPS , and even I didn't know how RIGHT I was or how far it went !