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 Barbara Byrd-Bennett, 66, resigned in June amid a federal probe
into a $20.5 million no-bid contract the cash-strapped district had
awarded to her previous employer, educational consulting firm SUPES
Academy.
The district for the country's third-largest city has had five chief
executives in four years and is making drastic spending cuts this
year as it faces a potential $1.1 billion deficit.
Byrd-Bennett's lawyer has said she is cooperating with the
investigation.
A 43-page federal indictment made public last Thursday includes
criminal charges against Byrd-Bennett and against SUPES, the related
firm Synesi Associates and the companies' owners. The indictment
involves more than $23 million in contracts.
She is charged with 15 counts of mail fraud and five counts of wire
fraud. The other indicted parties also face bribery and conspiracy
charges.
In of her alleged email exchanges with SUPES owner Gary Salomon,
Byrd-Bennett wrote: "I have tuition to pay and casinos to visit (:”
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Mayor Rahm Emanuel appointed Byrd-Bennett to head the district,
which serves 400,000 students in 660 schools, in 2012, after the
first teachers' strike in Chicago in 25 years. The SUPES contract
began in 2013.
(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Eric Beech)
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