School scheme: 'How do they know it's isolated?'

February 6, 2008
BY ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter - Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago's magnet applications should be audited following revelations that parents tried to clout their kids into one magnet school by falsely claiming they had a child already enrolled there, the head of a government watchdog group said Tuesday.

Disclosures that 12 applicants falsely claimed to have "siblings'' at Sabin Magnet -- giving them a clear admissions edge -- is "the Chicago Public School version of Chicago clout in action,'' said Jay Stewart, executive director of the Better Government Association.

Magnets are "the crown jewels'' of CPS, and "I don't think it's crazy to imagine there's some likelihood of [falsified applications] happening elsewhere,'' Stewart said.

"This is Chicago. We're not talking about utopia.''

As first disclosed by the Sun-times, Sabin Principal Barton Dassinger blew the whistle in time to place students in the proper admissions lottery for this school year. CPS officials called the case an "isolated incident" and the first finding of magnet application tampering in the 27-year history of the program.

CPS spokesman Michael Vaughn said no changes have been made in its wake, and no audit is planned. He knew of no audit for accuracy ever being done.

"If they haven't done an audit, how do they know it's isolated?'' asked Stewart. "Just sitting there and doing nothing is the wrong way to do it. You have to be more proactive. ... CPS has to take this seriously. If it takes the mayor to get on them, fine.''

Sabin clerk Sandra Alverio resigned last year after Schools Inspector General James Sullivan found Alverio's niece was falsely listed as the "sibling'' of five Sabin applicants. Alverio has denied any wrongdoing.

Sullivan said one parent told his investigators she saw Alverio add Alverio's niece's name to her child's application, and another parent said Alverio advised her to claim her own children's cousin as a "sibling'' to grease their entry.

Other parents who did not implicate Alverio tried to pass off their children's cousins as "siblings," including the parent of one child whose cousin shared the same last name, Sullivan said.

Sullivan said he must prioritize his limited manpower so without any other indication that magnet applications are being falsified, he, too, does not plan an audit.

Alonzo Rivas, a member of a 2005 CPS blue ribbon magnet committee, said parents don't have enough information to know if their children have been cheated out of a magnet seat. Said Rivas: "That's why you need an audit.''

The BGA's Stewart said applications should require parents to affirm their information is correct -- something required at selective-enrollment CPS schools that base admissions on tests, but not at magnets that base admissions on lotteries.

rrossi@suntimes.com