chicagotribune.com
How VIPs lobbied schools
Duncan's office tracked politicians and others
By Azam Ahmed, Tribune reporters, 8:21 AM CDT, March 23, 2010
LINK

While many Chicago parents took formal routes to land their children in the best schools, the well-connected also sought help through a shadowy appeals system created in recent years under former schools chief Arne Duncan.

Whispers have long swirled that some children get spots in the city's premier schools based on whom their parents know. But a list maintained over several years in Duncan's office and obtained by the Tribune lends further evidence to those charges. Duncan is now secretary of education under President Barack Obama.

The log is a compilation of politicians and influential business people who interceded on behalf of children during Duncan's tenure. It includes 25 aldermen, Mayor Richard Daley's office, House Speaker Michael Madigan, his daughter Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, former White House social secretary Desiree Rogers and former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun.

Non-connected parents, such as those who sought spots for their special-needs child or who were new to the city, also appear on the log. But the politically connected make up about three-quarters of those making requests in the documents obtained by the Tribune.

Often a sponsor's request was rejected. Principals responded that a student's scores were too low, or that the school was full. In other cases, the student hadn't even taken the required admissions test, and therefore could not be considered, according to the documents.

The list surfaced amid a federal probe and an internal investigation into admissions practices at the city's top high schools. Until Monday, the district had not revealed it had kept such a list.

The list was maintained by a top Duncan aide, David Pickens, currently chief of staff to the president of the Chicago Board of Education. Pickens said he created the log at Duncan's behest to track the flood of calls pouring into district offices from parents, politicians and business leaders trying to navigate the system's mysterious and maligned application process.

But Pickens acknowledged the list was kept confidential. The vast majority of parents who follow the system's school application process never knew they could appeal to Duncan's office for special consideration.

"We didn't want to advertise what we were doing because we didn't want a bunch of people calling," Pickens said.

Pickens said that principals grew tired of getting calls from influential people seeking admission for a student, and that by centralizing it, he could serve as a firewall. After getting a request, he or another staffer would look up the child's academic record. If the student met their standard, they would call the principal of the desired school.

Pickens said the calls from his office were not directives to the principals — no one was ever told they had to accept a student. Often, students did not get any of their top choices but were placed in larger, less competitive, but still desirable schools such as Lane Technical High School.

Duncan has remained mum on the list. "We never pressured principals or told them what to do or said this person needs to be considered over this person," said Duncan spokesman Peter Cunningham. "It's just a way to manage the information."

The initials "AD" are listed 10 times as the sole person requesting help for a student, and as a co-requester about 40 times. Pickens said "AD" stood for Arne Duncan, though Duncan's involvement is unclear. Duncan's mother appears as a sponsor, as does "KD," whom Pickens identified as Karen Duncan, Arne's wife.

Competition to get into the city's premier selective enrollment schools is fierce. Every year thousands of students apply for openings at the schools, considered the crown jewels of the city's public school system. But parents have long complained the system is rigged, murky and unfair. They tell stories about friends and neighbors whose children were admitted through back channels.

Admission to selective enrollment high schools and gifted elementary centers is supposedly based on merit, while entry into the magnet schools is conducted through a randomized lottery.

For years, Chicago Public Schools officials acknowledged the admission process — especially in the elite selective-enrollment high schools — was flawed. Principals were letting students in outside the general application process based on a loosely defined "principal discretion" procedure.

In 2008, Duncan created a formal process where students initially denied acceptance could get in based on five criteria, including outstanding extracurricular activities or ability to overcome hardship. But even that didn't stop principals from violating the rules and enrolling students who did not fit the criteria, district officials have said.

Pickens said that every student on his list applied for principal discretion.

When new schools chief Ron Huberman replaced Duncan, he announced he would implement a series of changes to prevent people from gaming the system.

Many of the politicians named on Pickens' log acknowledged that they made calls on students' behalf because this is how the system works in Chicago. They weighed in on behalf of relatives, friends and campaign workers.

"…Whenever anybody asked me — whether it was a relative, a distant relative, a next-door neighbor or the guy across the street — I would write letters," said Ald. Walter Burnett Jr., 27th, who has ended the practice. "Sometimes the kids get in; sometimes they don't.

In 2008, former U.S. Sen. Braun sought help for two students, though she said Monday she does not recall placing a call to Duncan's office. Pickens said she called him, seeking help getting a student into Whitney Young Magnet High School, and he asked Principal Joyce Kenner to call the former senator back.

Braun said she called Kenner to inquire after one child's mother told her the student's application had been "lost in a computer glitch." Braun said Kenner told her: "I'll take care of it."

The child got into Whitney Young, despite a below-average admission score. The Tribune is not naming any students involved because they are minors and it is unlikely they knew about efforts being made on their behalf.

"This process is not pure, and everyone knows it," Braun said. "The process is a disaster, and quite frankly, I don't have a problem making a call. If the process were not as convoluted as it is, parents wouldn't be asking for help."

Kenner, who has testified under subpoena in the federal investigation, said the admissions problems are "old news."

"There is a new framework in place for principal discretion," she said in her e-mail response. "I think we have an opportunity to move on from this issue."

The nearly 40-page log obtained by the Tribune provides a detailed account of calls and requests coming into Duncan's office in 2006 and 2008, though it's unclear if the documents are complete for those years. The log includes detailed information about how the district intervened.

Ald. Richard Mell, 33rd, said that most of the students he sought help for were turned away. Of the seven students found in the records, two got in.

Burnett requested consideration of a student in 2008 whose test score did not get him into Whitney Young. The log suggests the principal offered the student future enrollment as a consolation and notes that Burnett "was OK with that offer."

Burnett also made requests in March 2006 on behalf of other children, including a former city employee's child. In one case, the child was enrolled "without our assistance" according to the documents. Another took the admissions test about a week before school started and is now enrolled at Skinner School, where the student sought a placement.

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office made a request in 2006 on behalf of a student who wanted to get into Walter Payton College Prep but the log carried this notation, "STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONE." It's unclear what happened to the student.

Desiree Rogers, who was a Peoples Gas executive when she contacted Duncan's office, sought help for one student, who did not get in. Rogers said she thought she followed the proper procedure when she wrote a letter on behalf of a student.

Michael Madigan's office said he considered his involvement a part of constituent services. Lisa Madigan's spokesperson said she supported a longtime family friend.

Daley's office also appears on the list. The logs indicate that in 2008 a mayoral staffer made inquiries on behalf of a new out-of-town Daley hire.

"We just offered our help, as you would for anyone who was moving from out of state with his family to work," said Lori Healey, Daley's then chief of staff. "But there was never a commitment to get (the hire's) kids into a ‘good school' or a particular school or anything of that nature."

Tribune reporters Todd Lighty, Stacy St. Clair, Hal Dardick, Robert Becker, Kristen Mack, John Chase and John Byrne contributed to this report.
asahmed@tribune.com
sbanchero@tribune.com

Duncan had VIP list of requests at Chicago schools
By Nick Anderson, Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 25, 2010; A02
LINK

When he led the Chicago schools, Arne Duncan kept a list of all the big shots who asked for help in getting certain children into the city's best public schools.

A spokesman said Wednesday that Duncan, who is now U.S. education secretary, used the list not to dole out rewards to insiders but to shield principals from political interference.

Spokesman Peter Cunningham said Duncan did not intervene in admissions decisions at selective schools during his tenure of 2001-09 as chief executive of the nation's third-largest school system. "We would just simply forward the requests [to principals], and say, 'Look this is your decision,' " Cunningham said. "We were very explicit about that."

The list, long kept under wraps, was disclosed this week by the Chicago Tribune. The newspaper reported that nearly 40 pages of logs it obtained show admissions requests from 25 city aldermen, Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and his daughter, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, as well as an education aide in the administration of Mayor Richard M. Daley. The mayor denied that his office tried to pull strings in admissions decisions, according to the newspaper.

The list was said to include some people who were not especially well-connected. The newspaper reported that there was no evidence that principals were forced to admit unqualified students.

Daniel A. Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, said it was probably a mistake for Duncan to keep such a list. He said the best response to a request for help with admissions is a polite referral to a publicly posted policy on selection criteria and application procedures.

"I fully understand the kind of pressures you could get into in a Chicago or an inner-city situation, where you have huge political pressures -- the mayor, the police chief, very important people that put pressure on you. . . . But that's not something you get involved with in any way, shape or form," said Domenech, a former Fairfax County schools superintendent. "The answer is: 'No, that's not anything I can help with. There is a procedure, and good luck.' "

The admissions scramble in Chicago highlights the enduring divide in big-city schools between academic haves and have-nots. Of more than 400,000 students in Chicago, most attend public schools that are not selective.

The city's school system has improved somewhat in recent years. But like most cities with high rates of poverty, Chicago faces huge academic challenges, including test scores and graduation rates far below the national average.

That means many parents who can't afford private school tuition and are dissatisfied with neighborhood schools jockey for a limited number of slots in well-regarded magnet schools, out-of-boundary schools or selective public schools that base admissions on criteria such as grades and test scores. In the Washington region, such pressures are especially familiar to parents in D.C. and Prince George's County public schools.

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) faced a barrage of questions in August when the mayor's twin sons enrolled in a prestigious Northwest Washington elementary school with a waiting list that was not the designated school for his neighborhood. Rhee would not discuss the specifics of Fenty's case.

But officials eventually disclosed that the rationale for the transfer was to allow the mayor's sons to be in separate classes and that the neighborhood school would not have been able to meet that need. Neither of the D.C. schools at issue had selective admissions.

When Duncan took the helm in Chicago in 2001, Cunningham said, his initial policy was to tell anyone who asked about admissions to selective schools to call the schools directly. But that became problematic, he said, because Duncan heard that the callers were becoming a burden to principals. Some of them apparently claimed to principals that Duncan had weighed in on behalf of certain applicants, which Cunningham said was untrue.

So Duncan asked for a list to be kept, Cunningham said, to help manage the requests and keep callers off the backs of principals. In 2008, the spokesman said, the school board adopted a policy that made explicit that principals had a certain amount of admissions discretion but required them to justify in writing why a student would be admitted ahead of others with better academic credentials.

Of the episode, Cunningham said: "It says we need more great schools. The demand for great schools is high, and we just have to keep working hard to create as many options as possible."

View all comments that have been posted about this article.

Your Comments On...

Duncan had VIP list of requests at Chicago schools
When he led the Chicago schools, Arne Duncan kept a list of all the big shots who asked for help in getting certain children into the city's best public schools.
- By Nick Anderson

Commentsblarney1 wrote:
Yes! Yes! We need to increase the availability of better schools in Chicago. But, in the meantime, some children are "more special" than others. Those miserable schools will just have to do for the bulk of the city's children.
Next, it will be health care procedures and hospitals. Oh! I forgot! Our congressmen do not have to subject their families to the waiting lists.
3/25/2010 5:19:12 PM
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fringy wrote:
I wish the commenters who ascribe this kind of thing to one political party would just SHUT UP, because the finger pointing isn't helping on any level, and it doesn't take much intelligence to realize that corruption runs rampant across party lines.
3/25/2010 12:54:18 PM
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lesliekorshak wrote:
la-da-da-de-de- - la-de-da-d-e-da-and-the-beat-goes-on...
3/25/2010 10:03:13 AM
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etstephens wrote:
President Warren Harding was quoted has having said:
" I don't worry about my enemies. I worry about my friends."

We need a professional educator, one who actually taught in a public school, as Secretary of Education.
3/25/2010 9:14:56 AM
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CatherineMcClarey wrote:
My brother-in-law taught social studies in one of those Chicago magnet schools; the students stole books from his classroom library which we had loaned to him.
I assume bsallamack was being ironic/sarcastic; if so, I totally agree with him/her. Even informing a magnet school principal that someone had contacted the principal's boss about admissions creates implicit pressure to admit that person's child, whether or not the boss explicitly recommended admission.
3/25/2010 7:27:55 AM
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elfraed wrote:
"The answer is: 'No, that's not anything I can help with. There is a procedure, and good luck.' "

It is all right there in the above quote. One does not need to keep a list; a word to the wise should be sufficient.

Politicking would be the only use for such a list.
3/25/2010 4:21:00 AM
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jy151310 wrote:
The Post is utterly incapable of projecting this despicable activity by an Obama appointee to the Obama administration's control over the health care system.
The Post is incompetent and totally compromised. The collapse of the Post can't come soon enough.

3/24/2010 8:36:55 PM
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beefstu2 wrote:
What a shocka... I just can't wait until Barry and his crooked Chicago pals control the kidney transplant list and access to the "concierge level" hospital rooms. THAT'S CHANGE U CAN BELIEVE IN!
3/24/2010 7:56:21 PM
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clary916 wrote:
So Mr. Anderson what was Duncan's explanation for why he didn't just tell people he couldn't help them because there was an established procedure for everyone?
3/24/2010 7:20:40 PM
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bsallamack wrote:
"We would just simply forward the requests (to principals), and say, 'Look this is your decision,' "

Of course when the person on the request is refused and complains there would be no repercussions.
3/24/2010 6:45:23 PM
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Cornell1984 wrote:
There were 38 murders in and around Chicago's schools last year. Chicago's schools have not improved -- please read the Chicago Sun-Times, a very liberal newspaper, to find out how bad the schools are in Chicago. Over 800 teachers were charged with physically or sexually assaultint students.

Arne Duncan's list is a national disgrace.
3/24/2010 6:29:37 PM
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countryfirst1 wrote:
Sure, Arne, who do you expect to believe you that you didn't help out your political buddies.
3/24/2010 4:54:13 PM
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Peejay wrote:
This has little to do with have and have not. It's political influence that is the new currency, now that government is expanding exponentially.
3/24/2010 4:03:22 PM
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jlp19 wrote:
To make this even better, in the charter school I visited I saw no signs of security cameras or of security guards. Most schools in Chicago, particularly in dangerous neighborhoods like this have visible security.
3/24/2010 4:03:08 PM
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alc0f7 wrote:
It's very disappointing to find out that someone who's charged with ensuring quality education for ALL participated in a shameful game of cronyism.
3/24/2010 3:04:15 PM
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Cryos wrote:
jlp19 wrote:
A couple of days ago I visited one of the charter schools that opened when Arne Duncan was CEO of CPS. It was dirty, there was some damage to the walls in certain places, the windows were sealed shut (which led to a stale air smell), there were about 20 students in the bathroom or hall (and this on one floor only) when they were supposed to be in class, and the classes were unruly. The teachers I saw look depressed.

This school was in a poor gang ridden neighborhood close within a mile or two from the University of Chicago.

I can't say how many other charter schools are like this in Chicago. This is the first one I've seen.

I'm wondering what the rest of the charter schools look like. I wonder if Arne Duncan ever checked.

Chicago. "Progessives" model for the country LOL.
3/24/2010 2:13:04 PM
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jlp19 wrote:
A couple of days ago I visited one of the charter schools that opened when Arne Duncan was CEO of CPS. It was dirty, there was some damage to the walls in certain places, the windows were sealed shut (which led to a stale air smell), there were about 20 students in the bathroom or hall (and this on one floor only) when they were supposed to be in class, and the classes were unruly. The teachers I saw look depressed.

This school was in a poor gang ridden neighborhood close within a mile or two from the University of Chicago.

I can't say how many other charter schools are like this in Chicago. This is the first one I've seen.

I'm wondering what the rest of the charter schools look like. I wonder if Arne Duncan ever checked.
3/24/2010 1:35:53 PM
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g30rg3544 wrote:
Typical politician!!! This is what we have come to expect from our Federal office holders.
3/24/2010 1:16:55 PM
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Cryos wrote:
The spokesman, Peter Cunningham, said Duncan did not intervene in admissions decisions at selective schools during his tenure from 2001 to 2009 as chief executive of the nation's third-largest school system. "We would just simply forward the requests [to principals], and say, 'Look this is your decision,' " Cunningham said. "We were very explicit about that."
Anyone with half a brain laughs at this.

Yeah when your boss's boss makes a request you don't give it any more consideration than just some unknown calling you.

Sad thing is the American sheeple will probably accept the spin.
3/24/2010 12:54:09 PM
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Cryos wrote:
Why am I not surprised. Why am I not suprised that the media will justify this in every way too.

There are so many lies, misleading statements and corruption coming from the democratic party that the media doesn't cover, covers up and jusitifes.

It is sad the political machine the MSM has become.
3/24/2010 12:47:23 PM
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g30rg3544 wrote:
Typical politician!!! This is what we have come to expect from our Federal office holders.
3/24/2010 1:16:55 PM
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Cryos wrote:
The spokesman, Peter Cunningham, said Duncan did not intervene in admissions decisions at selective schools during his tenure from 2001 to 2009 as chief executive of the nation's third-largest school system. "We would just simply forward the requests [to principals], and say, 'Look this is your decision,' " Cunningham said. "We were very explicit about that." ====================
Anyone with half a brain laughs at this.

Yeah when your boss's boss makes a request you don't give it any more consideration than just some unknown calling you.

Sad thing is the American sheeple will probably accept the spin.

March 23, 2010
In Chicago, Obama Aide Had V.I.P. List for Schools
By TAMAR LEWIN and MONICA DAVEY, NY TIMES

When Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, was chief executive of the Chicago Public Schools, his office kept a log of nearly 40 pages listing the local politicians and business people and others who sought help getting children into the city’s most selective public schools.

According to an article Tuesday in The Chicago Tribune, which first obtained and reported on the confidential log, those who sought such help included 25 aldermen, Mayor Richard M. Daley’s office, the State House speaker, the state attorney general, the former White House social secretary and a former United States senator.

A spokesman for the Department of Education said Tuesday that the log was a record of those who asked for help, and that neither Mr. Duncan nor the aide who maintained the list, David Pickens, ever pressured principals to accept a child. Rather, he said, the creation of the list was an effort to reduce pressure on principals.

“Arne Duncan asked David Pickens to respond to all of these requests, some of which came from him, some from lots of other people, as a way to try to manage a process that was putting a lot of pressure on principals,” said Peter Cunningham, who handled communications for Mr. Duncan in Chicago and is now assistant secretary of the Department of Education. “This was an attempt to buffer principals from all the outside pressure, to get our arms around something that was burdensome to them. It was always up to the principal to make the decision. Arne never ever picked up the phone.”

Mr. Pickens was not available for comment Tuesday, said Monique Bond, a spokeswoman for the Chicago schools.

According to The Chicago Tribune, about three-quarters of those in the log had political connections. The log noted “AD” as the person requesting help for 10 students, and as a co-requester about 40 times, according to The Tribune. Mr. Duncan’s mother and wife also appeared to have requested help for students.

“The fact that his name might be next to some of these names doesn’t mean he was trying to get the kid in a school,” Mr. Cunningham said. “He was only asking after someone said, ‘Hi, Arne, is there any way to get into this school?’ ”

Mr. Cunningham said he did not believe principals would have felt any special pressure because Mr. Duncan was the source of the inquiry. “We were always very clear with them that it was up to the principal to make the decision,” he said.

Some of those reported to be on the list confirmed Mr. Cunningham’s assessment. Steve Brown, a spokesman for Representative Michael J. Madigan, the speaker of the State House and chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, acknowledged that Mr. Madigan had, indeed, “from time to time gotten requests from constituents and passed them along.”

From there, Mr. Brown said, it was entirely up to school officials. “They make the decision,” he said. “There’s absolutely nothing untoward.”

He said he was unaware of precisely how many such requests Mr. Madigan might have made, or whether the students had been let into the schools they wanted.

Among those on the list was former Senator Carol Moseley Braun. A spokesman for Ms. Braun said she had no comment.

Admission to top Chicago schools has long been a competitive and murky process, with longstanding rumors of abuse. Mr. Duncan created a formal appeals process in 2008, and when he left to join the Obama administration, his successor, Ron Huberman, created a system to stop the gaming of the system.

The existence of the list surfaced amid a federal investigation, according to The Tribune. A spokesman for the Department of Education said Tuesday that the investigation stemmed from a case involving a school principal after Mr. Duncan left.

In July, Mr. Huberman announced an internal investigation of the city’s 52 application-based elementary and high schools. The president of the Chicago school board, Michael Scott, who had been subpoenaed in the federal investigation, committed suicide in November.

Tamar Lewin reported from New York, and Monica Davey from Chicago. Sam Dillon contributed reporting from New York.