Chicago Public Schools Subject Of Federal Probe

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Aug 1, 2009 4:15PM

The Chicago Public School system now finds itself under scrutiny from the federal government for alleged shady admissions practices at some of its more elite schools. The CPS has already launched its own internal investigation, but a source told the Tribune that the feds have served the CPS with a grand jury subpoena looking for admission process information. According to the Tribune:

Entry into the magnet schools is supposed to be through randomized lottery. Admission to selective enrollment high schools and gifted elementary centers is supposedly based on merit.

The district has long allowed magnet school principals to handpick up to 5 percent of their students. Last year, they extended that right to principals at the nine selective enrollment high schools, even though some principals acknowledged they were already doing it. The principals can consider only extenuating circumstances such as a special talent or family crisis, not the applicants' political ties.

But whispers have long swirled that some students get spots in these top-flight schools not by chance or merit, but by whom their parents know or how much money they make.

The CPS' internal investigation includes 52 of the system's schools.