Chcago Mayor Emanuel, Black aldermen ‘beyond outraged’ over ‘unacceptable’ conditions of public schools

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and several Black aldermen in the city are said to be “beyond outraged” over the conditions found in some 125 public schools after a “flash” inspection revealed rodent infestation, dirty facilities and other deplorable conditions. According to the Sun Times, Several aldermen, including the chairman of the Black caucus, are calling for immediate cleaning of the schools found with dirty floors, rodent droppings and smelly bathrooms that parents and teachers have long complained about – as well as answers from Aramark, the private company CPS hired to oversee school cleaning. And the Chicago Teachers Union called the lack of concrete solutions “inhumane and unacceptable.” The Chicago Board of Education, whose members are appointed by Mayor Emanuel, have approved a slew of contracts since 2014 for Aramark and another private facilities company, and in January approved $427 million more in facilities work them more responsibility over school facilities. In January, as the CPS blitz inspections were in full swing, Aramark just signed its part of that contract, which CPS refuses to release. If the violations noted in the blitz reports were flagged by health department inspectors, they’d total more than $1.4 million in fines. Asked to respond to the conditions and photos published Wednesday, Emanuel said he was “beyond outraged,” but wouldn’t say what should be done to fix the messes, the worst of which were documented from December through February by inspectors from CPS and Aramark in schools serving low-income children of color. “It’s unacceptable. Janice knows that, that’s why she’s going to fix it,” he said of CEO Janice Jackson, whose daughter and stepson are CPS students. “That’s not what we want for our children, and it’s not going to stand.” Chicago Teachers Union members didn’t know until this week that CPS “rigorously inspected fewer than 20 percent of our students’ schools for cleanliness issues,” vice president Jesse Sharkey said in a statement. “The district also has no plan or strategy in place to address filth and vermin infestations in remaining schools, despite the fact that more than 70 percent of the schools it inspected failed initial inspections. That is inhumane and unacceptable.” Sharkey also blamed the mayor for privatizing the schools as CPS “at the highest administrative levels, has clearly failed to hold its contractors accountable, instead renewing and expanding these contracts for hundreds of millions of dollars in the last two years alone. This is more than a failure of the contractors, who’ve short-staffed schools and foisted impossible working conditions on janitors and related staff.” Arnie Rivera, a trusted mayoral ally who inherited the problems when he took over as chief operating officer a month ago, told the Sun-Times on Tuesday that all 91 failing schools have been re-inspected and he’s working on fixes, some of which are being implemented during this week’s spring break. Several prominent African-American aldermen want more, emphasizing how children need clean, safe places to learn.