Byrd-Bennett under wraps? Rahm supports the 'thrust..."

“I support the thrust of what Barbara said. We’re 100 percent hand-in-glove ...

The glove metaphor is an appropriate one. Barbara Byrd-Bennett is under wraps again, like she was a year ago. We've hardly heard a peep from her since her comical and embarrassing comments which followed months of school closing hearings. You may remember, 20,000 Chicagoans spoke in one voice at those hearings---"Fix 'em. Don't close 'em!"

But BBB somehow interpreted that as: ""Everybody got it that we really needed to close schools..."

The buffo pronouncement followed her call to ban the popular award-winning book, Persepolis, from the city's middle grades reading lists.

The last thing we heard from the CEO was that she had this school-closing safety thing under control. That must have done it. Since then, nothing.

I see a short notice in Today's Tribune. Byrd-Bennett is due to come out of hiding on June 18th, 6 p.m. at the Chase Auditorium, 10. S. Dearborn, when she will join Trib editor Bruce Dold for a discussion about, "the performance and the promise of Chicago schools." Doesn't get any more softball than that, I suppose. But, readers are assured there will be time for "audience questions". The only catch is that you will be charged $20 just to get in the door to meet this public servant.

I guess they don't want a bunch of us, can't-afford-a-sawbuck riff-raff coming in and  doing mic-checks.