Barbara Byrd-Bennett

Barbara Byrd–Bennett
Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools
In office
October 11, 2012 – June 15, 2015
Preceded by Jean-Claude Brizard
Succeeded by Forrest Claypool
Chief Executive Officer of Cleveland Municipal School District
In office
September 23, 1998 – August 17, 2006
Personal details
Born (1951-04-12) April 12, 1951
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Profession Educator

Barbara Byrd–Bennett is a convicted felon and the former chief executive officer of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the Cleveland Municipal School District. She served as CEO of the Cleveland schools from 1998 to 2006.[1] From 2009 to 2011, she was the academic and accountability officer for the Detroit Public Schools system.[2] She was hired as the chief education advisor for CPS in April 2012[1] and then named CEO by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel six months later.[3][4] She resigned from CPS in 2015 amid a bribery investigation,[5] which led to her pleading guilty to multiple charges.[6] She was sentenced to 4 1/2 years at Federal Prison Camp, Alderson in West Virginia.

Federal criminal investigations and conviction

Detroit Public Schools

In 2012, federal agents began investigating Barbara Byrd-Bennett’s role in a $40 million textbook contract that was awarded while she worked in Detroit.[7] The deal was similar to a later one in Chicago in that both involved companies for which Byrd-Bennett had previously worked.[7] No charges have resulted from the Detroit investigation.

Chicago Public Schools

In April 2015, Byrd-Bennett took a personal leave as Chicago Public Schools CEO during an investigation into a $20.5 million no-bid contract that had been awarded to SUPES Academy, a professional development organization she used to work with as a consultant.[8] She resigned in June 2015.[5]

The indictment against Byrd-Bennett

In October, 2015, a federal grand jury in Illinois returned a 23-count indictment against Byrd-Bennett and two co-conspirators.[9][10]

On October 8, 2015, the U.S. Attorney handling the case announced that Byrd-Bennett would plead guilty to charges that she set up a kickback scheme in which she steered no-bid CPS contracts worth more than $23 million to her former employer, SUPES Academy, that would pay her 10 percent of that amount. Her former boss, the owner of SUPES, also promised Byrd-Bennett a job after she left her CPS post, trust accounts funded with $127,000 for each of her twin grandsons,[11] and other perks. It was reported that the U.S. Attorney's office found incriminating evidence against Byrd-Bennett, including an email to the SUPES owner that said, "I have tuition to pay and casinos to visit".[12][13] She had pushed parties aggressively to secure the corrupt deals.[14]

Byrd-Bennett pleaded guilty on October 13, 2015, in federal court. In exchange for her cooperation prosecutors agreed to request a sentence of 7 1/2 years in prison, which is below the federal sentencing guidelines. She agreed to delay her sentencing until after the charges against her co-defendants were resolved.[11][6] On April 28, 2017, she was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison.[15]

On August 28, 2017, Byrd-Bennett began serving her sentence at Federal Prison Camp, Alderson, nicknamed "Camp Cupcake", in West Virginia.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 Patrick O'Donnell. "Former Cleveland schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett becomes CEO of Chicago Public Schools". The Plain Dealer. cleveland.com. October 12, 2012. Retrieved on March 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ Ryan Beene. "Detroit Public Schools appoints Barbara Byrd-Bennett as chief academic officer. Crain's Detroit Business. April 24, 2009. Retrieved on March 22, 2013.
  3. ↑ Mayor Emanuel Names Barbara Byrd-Bennett New CEO. Chicago Public Schools. October 12, 2012. Retrieved on March 22, 2013.
  4. ↑ Whet Moser. "Barbara Byrd-Bennett Replaces Jean-Claude Brizard as Head of Chicago Public Schools". Chicago Magazine. October 12, 2012. Retrieved on March 22, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Juan Perez, Jr. "CPS chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett resigns amid federal criminal investigation". Chicago Tribune. June 1, 2015. Retrieved on June 2, 2015.
  6. 1 2 Meisner, Jason; Perez Jr., Juan (October 13, 2015). "Ex-CPS chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett pleads guilty, tearfully apologizes to students". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 29, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  8. ↑ Juan Perez Jr. and Hal Dardick. "CPS chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett on leave amid federal probe". Chicago Tribune. April 17, 2015. Retrieved on June 2, 2015.
  9. ↑ "PDF: Read the Barbara Byrd-Bennett indictment". Chicago Tribune. October 8, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  10. ↑ Silets, Alexandra (October 12, 2015). "Examining the Indictment of Barbara Byrd-Bennett". Chicago Tonight. WTTW. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  11. 1 2 O'Donnell, Patrick (October 13, 2015). "Barbara Byrd-Bennett pleads guilty; daughter Nailah Byrd never received cash from her fraud". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  12. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Lauren; Seidel, Jon; Mihalopoulos, Dan (October 8, 2015). "Feds: Byrd-Bennett said 'tuition to pay and casinos to visit' led to kickbacks". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  13. ↑ Meisner, Jason; Perez Jr., Juan (October 8, 2015). "Former Chicago Public Schools chief to plead guilty to bribery scheme". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  15. ↑ O'Donnell, Patrick (April 28, 2017). "Barbara Byrd-Bennett sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison for kickback scheme". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  16. ↑ O'Donnell, Patrick (August 25, 2017). "Barbara Byrd-Bennett reports to "Camp Cupcake" prison on Monday". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
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