Emanuel apologizes as mayoral challengers seize on CPS sex abuse scandal – By Juan Perez Jr. and John Byrne (chicagotribune.com) / June 5 2018
Facing mounting criticism for Chicago Public Schools’ widespread mishandling of student sexual abuse and rape cases, Mayor Rahm Emanuel offered an apology Tuesday and said focus now should be placed on the actions that come about to fix the problem.
Emanuel’s opponents have seized on the problems brought to light in a Chicago Tribune investigation about the school system’s failures, casting the issue firmly into the ongoing 2019 mayor’s race. Mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot held a news conference during which she laid the blame squarely at Emanuel’s feet, describing it as the “product of widespread, systemic failures.”
The mayor, who was attending a downtown corporate headquarters announcement, offered his apology in response to Lightfoot’s criticism.
“Look, I think all adults offer apology, I offer my apology. But the question is, what are we going to do now besides words? What are the deeds to fix this up? I take responsibility, like Janice does take responsibility to do this,” Emanuel said, referring to CPS CEO Janice Jackson. “My point is, if you have a suggestion for how to tighten something up, offer that. I take responsibility and I’ve also apologized and I will apologize, like I expect every adult who has any role or responsibility.”
A series of Tribune findings showed the district conducted ineffective background checks that exposed students to educators with criminal convictions and arrests for sex crimes against children, while some teachers and principals failed to immediately alert child welfare investigators when allegations of abuse arose. CPS officials also acknowledged to the Tribune that the district does not have a standard protocol for investigating reports of sexual misconduct, while weaknesses in Illinois law help protect predators and do not require state authorities to collect data about sexual abuse of students.
For Emanuel, who’s already fighting politically against a field of at least nine challengers who have been hammering him about Chicago’s violence and economic disparity, the latest revelations and their fallout constitute yet another front in his re-election campaign.
Lightfoot stood outside Payton College Prep — a crown jewel of the Chicago Public Schools system that Emanuel often lauds for the recognition it receives as one of the top high schools in the state — to underscore what she said was the administration’s failure “to act decisively to protect our kids.”
By going on the offensive about the multiple instances the Chicago Tribune found of teachers and principals mishandling such cases, Lightfoot sought to highlight shortcomings with a basic expectation of CPS families: that their children are safe while at school.
She also struck at Emanuel’s record on education, an area in which he has recently said he hopes to build his most important legacy as mayor.
“Rahm Emanuel’s failures and incompetent leadership in the face of a crisis now follow a classic pattern: A crisis rages, he goes AWOL, and by virtue of his failure to assume any leadership, others are left to bear the full weight of his incompetence,” Lightfoot said. “And this time, the weight has fallen on those least able to bear it — our young, innocent children.”
Lightfoot, for her part, demanded the district consult with the Cook County state’s attorney to develop standards for investigating sexual assault against students, and called on CPS to “cease and desist” having its Law Department both investigate sexual abuse allegations and also draw on its investigative files if a victim sues.
The mayor tried to both set out a plan to deal with the situation Tuesday, and to cast some fault with his predecessors.
“As you know, when you go through the stories, this goes back 10 years and, my guess, beyond the stories’ own work, goes way back,” Emanuel said. “But that doesn’t excuse what happened here.”
On whether it would give Chicagoans more confidence if he turned over the investigation of what went wrong at CPS to an outside agency, the mayor said “that’s for another day,” and expressed confidence in the school system under Jackson.
“My view is to turn over all the rocks, and Janice’s view — we’ll completely share it — overturn all of the rocks throughout the system,” he said. “How has the background check been done, and make it comprehensive. How to make sure that the reporting is followed through, comprehensive. How to make sure, when need be, you prosecute, comprehensive. And how do you make sure nobody is ever hired again in the system, either here or anywhere else, that would ever violate our children?”
And he also said it should not be a political question. “If anybody has an idea, anybody, bring them forward. Anywhere. But to sit there – my view is to remove this from politics and make sure that it is properly executed, a plan to ensure the safety, security and education of our children,” Emanuel said.
Mayoral candidate Paul Vallas released his own statement Tuesday saying the Tribune report “reflects a failure of leadership at CPS, which has witnessed a revolving door of leadership changes and scandal under Mayor Rahm Emanuel.”
“This is a prime example of Emanuel’s reactive and micromanaging style missing the forest for the trees and producing a culture in which there has been a complete lack of accountability,” Vallas’ statement said.
Former Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy also weighed in Tuesday encouraging parents to demand answers from the mayor.
“Unfortunately, this is just the latest in a litany of troubling controversies surrounding this current mayor. The sexual assaults of our children … in and around our schools, which ought to be the very places where our children should be the most protected, is despicable and unforgiveable,” McCarthy, who is also running for mayor, said in a statement. “The only thing we hear from the current mayor are apologies. Parents don’t need apologies for these deplorable acts … they and their children need accountability. How many more scandals do we need? How much more mismanagement? And how many more excuses are we going to hear from this mayor and his administration?”
Troy LaRaviere, who has also announced his candidacy for mayor, released a video statement last week criticizing Emanuel over the issue. LaRaviere, a former CPS principal, said there has not been enough investment or staffing in the school system.
“CPS is the most under-staffed school district in the state of Illinois and when you under-staff a school district the way this mayor has, important things fall through the cracks. You simply don’t have enough people to do it because you haven’t invested in those people because you haven’t invested in the students those people are supposed to serve,” LaRaviere said. “So one of the things that fell through the cracks is the district’s capacity to meet its obligation to keep these students safe and protect them from these dangers.”
Meanwhile, the Chicago Teachers Union Tuesday called for an “independent task force” of parents, union leaders and outside experts to address sexual abuse at CPS.
“As a father and a teacher, I’m horrified by these reports,” CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey said in a statement released Tuesday.
Emanuel’s 2013 closure of dozens of schools drew the ire of the residents affected by the moves, many of them African-American families on the city’s South and West sides. The mayor has since tried to rebuild that relationship, most recently with an election-year announcement last week that he plans to make free full-day preschool universal for 4-year-olds by 2021, a rollout set to start this fall with seats for kids from low-income households.
The Tribune investigation threatens to broaden the anger at his handling of the schools. It shows sexual abuse claims by students were mishandled at schools such as Payton that draw more white kids from wealthy homes, in addition to those at South Side schools like Simeon Career Academy.
The mayor has already tried to get out in front of the Tribune report.
Responding to the paper’s findings, the school district last week said it will implement additional training of employees on the legal obligation to report suspicions of abuse immediately. Principals will undergo training at a July conference “and annually moving forward,” the district’s statement said.
The district also said it would bolster its abuse reporting policy this month to require staff to notify child welfare investigators when they suspect an employee may be sexually grooming or communicating inappropriately with a student. During the coming months, the district said, it will develop a public awareness campaign to encourage reporting by employees, students, their families and the public. The campaign will be implemented during the next school year, CPS said.
The district approved a $500,000 contract for the Schiff Hardin law firm and former Illinois Executive Inspector General Maggie Hickey to conduct “a top-to-bottom review” of the school system’s response to sexual violence.
Jackson, during a news conference held hours after Emanuel’s remarks, said the district-hired law firm and investigator will issue a “preliminary set of recommendations” for the public’s review in August — and that Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx would help train CPS staff and “bolster our protocols” on its response to sexual abuse.
But Jackson directed her strongest remarks for the political candidates who continued to criticize Emanuel’s administration Tuesday.
“I think it’s extremely grotesque,” Jackson said.
“This is about protecting children. I’ve said clearly that the accountability starts with me. My mama bear instincts are out front on this — so anybody who tries to politicize this, I have no time for that,” Jackson said. “I don’t think any of the victims in this case care who’s running for office, who’s doing what. All they care about is making sure that the people who hurt them are held accountable and that this doesn’t happen to anybody else again.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-cps-abuse-reaction-20180604-story.html
