"Obama’s SecEd manipulated school lists to favor powerful"

[WhiskeyGirl]

Chicago Breaking News reported late last night that former Chicago schools chief and current Secretary of Education Arne Duncan manipulated a system to favor powerful political allies by placing their children in the schools of their choice.  The discovery of a  list, the existence of which had been long denied by the city, and its composition of mainly high-powered political figures calls into question the appeals system used to reconsider applications that had been denied by the top Chicago-area schools:

(snip)

Why not?  Pickens said that they “didn’t want a bunch of people calling.”  No, apparently Duncan and his staff only wanted certain  people calling — people like the Madigans, Mosely Braun, and so on.  The kind of people who could do something for Duncan, like perhaps push his own political career forward until he got a spot like … Secretary of Education.

This is bald corruption.  Having a secret process that only the powerful know to get preferential treatment for their children is the antithesis of openness and transparency.  It turned Chicago schools and their admission process from an open competition to another spoils process in the Chicago Machine.  It’s not surprising, given the rampant corruption in the Windy City, but it is disgusting.  Parents of children who got aced out of a spot in the school of their choice now have to assume that Duncan and his team gamed the system, putting children at a disadvantage in order  to gain political favor for themselves.

Anyone participating in that system should leave public service immediately, including Duncan himself.  Will Mr. Hope and Change keep Duncan as part of his White House team and endorse this patronage system built on the backs of children?

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/03/23/obamas-seced-manipulated-school-lists-to-favor-powerful/

I wonder who maintains the list for Obama?  The healthcare list?  The pork list?