Dive Brief:
- Citizens United to Preserve Education, a coalition of education activists, has filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education and Chicago Public Schools inspector general claiming potential conflicts of interest that influenced the Chicago Board of Education's decision to "turn around" three schools.
- In April, the board voted to hand three schools over to the turnaround contractor Academy for Urban School Leadership — a decision CUPE viewed as invalid since board members had ties to AUSL.
- According to the complaints, Board President David Vitale was a former AUSL chair, and board member Dr. Carlos Azcoitia has a professorship at National Louis University, where AUSL has a teacher-preparation partnership.
Dive Insight:
Citizens United to Preserve Education takes issue with the fact that Vitale did not abstain from voting on the turnaround decision, despite the fact that he chaired the academy from 2009 to 2011, and Dr. Carlos Azcoitia only removed himself from part of the vote. In its complaint, CPS Chief Administrative Officer Tim Cawley's times as AUSL's managing director is also cited. While Cawley couldn't vote for the turnaround, he is in a position to approve the contract between the district and management company.
Chicago Public Schools is not shying away from the decision. The school district released a comment Monday in which it stuck to the vote. "All Chicago Board of Education members present at the April 23 public hearing acted in accordance with the Board's Code of Ethics policy," the statement read.
