Why is media burying the $20 million, no-bid Supes contract story?

Why the blackout by the Sun-Times on the Supes contract? The Tribune barely mentioned it. It's buried at the end of a school budget story this morning.  Sarah Karp at Catalyst has given reporters everything they need to begin asking the right questions and should win an award for her reporting.

Why no-bid? Is Byrd-Bennett pal,Solomon the only one capable of retraining Chicago principals and teachers? Facilitating a meeting?

Couldn't the $20M be used for better purposes, given the massive budget cuts, teacher firings, and school closings?

What's the Vallas connection? Is he making a comeback in Chicago after being booted by Daley and leaving a wake of devastation from Philly to New Orleans to Bridgeport?

Why were local ed schools at UIC, DePaul, Northeastern, et al...cut out?

Why pull principals out of their schools for two weeks just as they're getting ready for what appears to be another chaotic opening of school?

Judge Allen

Shame on Cook County Judge Thomas R. Allen who tossed out the lawsuit by parents and the teachers union aimed at stopping Rahm's mass school closings. They had argued that the district ignored the recommendations of independent hearing officers CPS hired who had recommended against the closing of 10 schools.

I'm not sure what the lawyers for the parents and the CTU expected in Cook County courts where judges are little more than patronage hacks who need Madigan's or "Slow Eddie" Burke's blessing before they can put their robes on. Allen is definitely of that ilk.

Allen got his start inside the Daley machine after being appointed Alderman in 1993 by Mayor Richard M. Daley to complete the term of Thomas Cullerton, who died in office. Allen married into the Cullerton family, which has sent several 38th Ward aldermen to the City Council in recent decades.

From there he was made chairman of the Transportation and Public Way Committee. He was later placed on seven other committees: Aviation; Budget and Government Operations, Buildings, Committees, Rules and Ethics,  Economic, Capital and Technology Development, Finance, and Zoning.

In 2008 Allen was found to be one of seven Chicago aldermen who between them got ten of  their "clout kids" good-paying summer jobs with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

At one point, Ald. Allen, who had some higher political ambitions of his own,  got a little too froggy and dared to vote against Daley on some budget issues. So Daley got him out of the way by making him a judge.

He was appointed Circuit Court Judge in November, 2010 ,thereby enabling Daley to appoint his successor on the Council.

How many more reasons do we need to detach CPS from City Hall?