The following article was selected from the Internet Edition of the Chicago Tribune. To visit the site, point your browser to http://chicagotribune.com/. ----------- Chicago Tribune Article Forwarding---------------- Article forwarded by: Cayata Dixon Return e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Article URL: http://chicagotribune.com/news/metro/chicago/article/0,2669,ART-52221,FF.html ---Forwarded article---------------- Parks chief is in running for Chico's school board post By Ray Quintanilla<BR> and Michael Martinez Park District Chairman Michael W. Scott has emerged as the front-runner to replace Gery Chico, who abruptly resigned as chairman of the Chicago Board of Education last month, according to City Hall sources. A final decision has not been made, and Mayor Richard Daley still has interviews to conduct before naming a replacement, but "Michael Scott is at the top of the list," a source said. While speculation continues over who will lead the board, Daley offers only lukewarm support to Paul Vallas, the schools CEO and the other half of the team, along with Chico, running the schools. The soft support keeps alive questions about how long Daley wants Vallas to remain on the job. If Daley chooses Scott to replace Chico, he will tap someone who has served three vastly different mayors -- including Daley himself. Daley appointed Scott to the Park District Board in 1992, and he became president in 1999. Eleanor Roemar, general counsel and policy director of Friends of the Parks, offered a glowing assessment of Scott's years on the Park Board and described him as always "willing to meet with community groups and representatives and open to ideas." He was particularly helpful with plans for improvements to Jackson Park, she said. Scott, 51, got his start in politics as a housing activist in the late 1970s on the West Side. The African-American activist came to the attention of Mayor Jane Byrne, who appointed Scott to the Board of Education. He served there a year before Byrne dumped him in 1981. Those years have frequently been cited by Daley, Vallas and Chico as the source of many of the problems Daley's team confronted when the General Assembly gave Daley control of the schools, including financial mismanagement, decaying schools and labor strife. Scott did not return phone calls requesting an interview. Scott served a brief stint as deputy campaign manager during Daley's unsuccessful run for mayor against Harold Washington in 1983. Washington appointed Scott deputy director of special events shortly after taking office. By 1985, Scott was elevated to the post of director of communications. A year later, Scott was appointed a mayoral special assistant, advising Washington on matters related to the expansion of the cable television industry in Chicago. In 1990, Scott left for a post with Prime Cable, which later merged with AT&T. Scott has since served a government relations post with AT&T Broadband. AT&T and its units have done hundreds of thousands of dollars in business with the school board in recent years, including a $420,000 contract approved in January for long distance phone, digital links and other services, according to records. Daley's aides have said the mayor is seeking a new board president who doesn't have the large number of conflicts that arose with Chico, the city's largest private lobbyist, who abstained from more than 400 votes in 6 years because they involved clients he was representing in City Hall. Daley declined to offer a hint on whom he would select during a brief meeting with reporters Monday. He did respond to questions about Vallas, who said last week he would decide at the end of the school year whether he wanted to remain as the system's chief executive officer. Daley confirmed he met privately with Vallas on Friday, though he declined to go into specifics about the meeting. When asked if he knew what Vallas intended to do and wanted Vallas to announce it publicly when the time was right, Daley replied, "That's right." Daley skirted the question about whether he wanted Vallas to stay, only saying: "He's done a very, very good job." ---------------------------------------------------- This is the CPS Mathematics Teacher Discussion List. To unsubscribe, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information: <http://home.sprintmail.com/~mikelach/subscribe.html>. To search the archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/science%40lists.csi.cps.k12.il.us/>
