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BOARDWATCH: 'No Remorse' is how parents saw the Board members at the April 22, 2015 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education... Public Tells CPS: 'No Remorse and No Credibility'....Board members tell the public 'Sit down and shut up!' as usual....

David Vance - April 23, 2015

�No Remorse� is how Ronald Jackson described the Board of Education on April 22, 2015. Jackson, who had been banned from the Board meetings for several months, had broken through the blacklist and spoke to the Board at its monthly meeting. Jackson described the entire Board of Education as "full of scandal, lies and corruption.� Before finishing he told Board President David Vitale that he is "going up the river" also. Five of the remaining six members of the Chicago Board of Education, who run the nation's third largest school system, stared silently (talking back later, when the speakers who had criticized them were told to sit down and shut up), sat there. Deborah Quazzo, whose corruption had made the front pages months before Barbara Byrd Bennett was the subject of a federal grand jury, was absent for reasons the Board did not explain.

Chicago Board of Education President David Vitale sowed no remorse about the Board's crimes at the April 22 Board meeting. Substance photo by David Vance.April 22, 2015 was the first Board meeting in nearly two years that Barbara Byrd Bennett wasn't with them. Instead of the woman they hired as "Chief Executive Officer" after the Chicago Teachers Strike of 2012, the Board members had one of their own sitting in as "Interim Chief Executive Officer." Attorney Jesse Ruiz, who had been Vice President of the Board, was "Interim CEO."

He smiled through the entire meeting, or tried to look concerned.

Ronald Jackson wasn't the only angry speaker. Erica Clark, of Parents 4 Teachers, described the Board of Education: �You have no credibility left.� She spoke about the SUPES Academy scandal. To regain its credibility the board needed a "disinfectant", she said. "Sunshine" will be the best cleaner she said, meaning full transparency.

The meeting opened up with a dry (nothing said) statement by David Vitale. The summary was that Barbara Byrd Bennett and SUPES Academy are under investigation -- and he could not speak about it. Lacking was any statement that the Board of Education voted and approved this �no bid contract�; or that it was a mistake. There was no remorse or apology to the public for wasting $20.5 million when the public schools were starving for funding. and the public woke up that morning to another claim about a "billion dollar deficit" on the front page of the Chicago Tribune.

The new "Interim CEO" (formerly, the Board Vice President) Jesse Ruiz followed by stating that SUPES Academy contract was cancelled. He spoke and seemed to smile at every opportunity to assure the audience that as the investigation continues our children always come first. Neither Ruiz, Vitale, or any of the other Board members discussed why and how they had come to vote in favor of the no-bid contract in June 2013. Nor did they explain why with all their power they had never bothered to check on the credibility of the corporation whose suburban offices show that they have five or six corporations in the same small Wilmette space.

As usual, the bureaucrats of CPS stood for the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag before the April 22, 2015 Board meeting began. The highly paid executives in the photo above are all paid well over $100,000 per year to "administer" the city's public schools. Not one of them has ever taught in a classroom in a CPS school. Substance photo by David Vance.But the loss of credibility didn�t seem to bother Mr. Ruiz who stood with confident answers in front of the corporate press.

They wanted to know why he voted for the �no bid contract� in June 2013. They wanted to know was true that SUPES Academy was the only vendor who was qualified to do the principal training. And, several times they asked if he knew about Barbara Byrd Bennett�s association with SUPES. With no apology for anything the Board did, he answered yes. Would he do anything different knowing what he knows now? No apology for wasting $20 million.

At the end of the meeting, after public participation, several Board members spoke to issues raised by the public. The loss of credibility didn�t bother Mahalia Hines who said that Jennifer Biggs was wrong on the charter schools. Parents can choose or choose not to send their children to them. Jennifer had talked about the recent 50 schools closed and the creation of 110 charter schools that now have thousands of empty seats.

Henry Bienen criticized Ms. Biggs by her name. He said she needed to show the geography where there is under-utilization and where there is over-utilization. And, in most public meeting when a person�s proper name is called out, there is permission for that person to respond, but not in the Board room of CPS where they think dialogue is you get two minutes and they can say what every they want to dismiss the facts and data presented to them. When Biggs tried to say something, Vitale told her the Board of Education equivalent of "Sit down and shut up."

Chicago Board of Education member Mahalia Hines at the Board's April 22, 2015 meeting. Substance photo by David Vance.Board President David Vitale also spoke and tried to connect with what was said in public comments. But what a public blunder, almost everyone present thought. His words to congratulate the parents who liked their public schools was curious and Freudian. This is what he said. �I am glad people like their schools in spite of us.� There was a gasp and quiet laughter.

And, then the smooth talking Jesse Ruiz met the press and looked professional and calm. To him and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who picked the Board, there is no remorse. There is no credibility problem either because they are not chosen by democracy; they are chosen by the bully Mayor.

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