Dirty Tricks Squad

One of the Chicago Sun-Times’s frontpage stories today is about the Chicago Public Schools’s fraudulent program to ensure that it passed cleanliness audits:

When parents, teachers or students have complained in recent years about dirty classrooms and lunchrooms, Chicago Public Schools officials have pointed to high “pass” rates found in audits by an independent firm that monitors the work of private companies overseeing the cleaning.

But following Chicago Sun-Times reports revealing that CPS staffers found filthy conditions at 91 of 125 schools they examined, janitors now tell the newspaper that supervisors cheated to pass those cleanliness audits.

Janitors at two Chicago schools say their bosses alerted them whenever the auditing company would be coming — sometimes several days ahead — and also tipped them about where to clean.

That allowed them to focus on areas they knew the auditors would check — and skip other parts of the schools that wouldn’t face inspection, the school janitors say.

Also, extra help would be provided in the form of “floater” custodians and additional cleaning supplies, they say.

This story is:

1. An example of typical Chicago corruption.
2. An example of public employees’ union dirty tricks (CPS’s janitorial services were privatized in 2014).
3. Battlespace preparation for the next mayoral election.
4. A “dog bites man” story.
5. All of the above.
6. Other.