Members of the Chicago Board of Education raised questions on Monday about a $38 million initiative that aims to provide services like mental health counseling and tutoring to select public schools in lower income neighborhoods in the city.
Board member Aaron “Jitu” Brown spoke at an event on Monday alongside Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Teachers Union leaders for a press conference celebrating the expansion of CPS’ Sustainable Community Schools program from 36 to 51 elementary and high schools.
“We dreamed of Chicago being a sustainable community school district,” Brown said at the event.
The $38 million CPS initiative provides $500,000 in taxpayer money to certain CPS schools that will be selected by a task force consisting of 10 representatives from CPS and 10 from CTU. From there, individual school leadership hires a nonprofit organization to provide services like mental health counseling and tutoring.
The Kenwood Oakland Community Organization is one of the nonprofit organizations that the program already works with and it has deals with three separate CPS schools.
Brown currently sits on KOCO’s board and has been with the organization since 1991, serving for many as Board President. However, he says he is not involved with awarding of CPS contracts.
“I don’t vote on it,” Brown said when asked about the apparent conflict of interest by NBC 5 Investigates. “I don’t vote on anything that that has to do with the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization.”
The full list of nonprofit contractors includes well known organizations like the YMCA of Greater Chicago and long-established community organizations like the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council.
Board Member Ellen Rosenfeld says the entire program should be investigated.
“We need the mental health support services and wraparound services. But we need it to be done with integrity. We need accountability, and we need transparency on this program,” Rosenfeld told NBC 5 Investigates.
Daniel Anello is president of a group called “Kids First Chicago,” and said the program operates in the dark. He also said there is a clear voice lacking in the process – parents.
“The selection process doesn’t involve the local school council, which is there almost exclusively for these kinds of decisions, it doesn’t involve the local school community, it’s really a decision made behind a curtain,” Anello said.
Neither CPS nor CTU officials returned requests seeking comment.
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