Body Found In River Believed To Be CPS President Michael Scott Was Reported Missing Over The Weekend CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Police are investigating whether a man found dead in the Chicago River overnight is Chicago School Board President Michael W. Scott. A car found parked near the river also reportedly belonged to Scott, although the license plate on the Cadillac was blocked. Published reports said the car was his.
Just before 8 a.m., the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrived on the scene. He said he spoke to Scott as recently as a week ago, and at that time, Scott seemed upbeat. Jackson said he was very surprised by the events.
"Everything is just so wrong," Jackson said. "This is as sudden to me as Monday morning."
Cook County Board President Todd H. Stroger released a statement in an email Monday morning regarding Scott¹s death. My wife and I would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of Michael Scott, Stroger said in the email.
Scott, 60, was reported missing from his home in the Monroe police district on the city's Near West Side on Sunday.
Fire crews arrived about 3:20 a.m. to recover the dead body floating in the canal of the river near 350 N. Orleans St., close to the Merchandise Mart and the Apparel Center, Fire Media Affairs spokesman Joe Roccasalva said.
Police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said the call came in at 3:15 a.m. The body was recovered as of 4:30 a.m., according to police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said the body is an unidentified man, black, in his 50s.
It was not known immediately who called in the discovery of the body, and several police and fire department units including a dive team worked on recovering the body. Personnel appeared to have used a light to to aid in the search.
Scott was appointed to the Board of Education on three separate occasions, most recently in February of this year.
A native of the West Side's Lawndale neighborhood and a CPS graduate, Scott graduated from Fordham University, and began his professional life as an urban planner. He later became the director of community development for the Lawndale People's Planning and Action Council.
Scott served his first term on the Board of Education in 1980 and 1981, under Mayor Jane Byrne, where he helped marshal support for a school desegregation plan and headed up the committee on real estate.
Under Mayor Harold Washington, Scott served as the Director of Special Events and the Special Assistant to the Mayor in charge of communications. He also served as Special Events director under Mayor Eugene Sawyer.
In 1996, Scott was appointed President of the Chicago Park District Board. He returned to the Board of Education in 2001, when Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed him as president. He worked with now-U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to raise test scores and attendance rates, his CPS biography says.
Scott moved on to become National Board of the Directors of the YMCA in 2006, and served on the Board of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority in 2007. Mayor Daley named Scott to the Board of Directors for the Regional Transportation Authority in 2008.
Scott returned as CPS President in February 2009. In recent years, his tenure has not been without controversy.
Recently, the Chicago School Board has been criticized about the death of Fenger High School student Derrion Albert. Some parents lay part of the blame on Albert's Sept. 24 beating death on the policies of the Renaissance 2010 program, which closed several schools and consolidated others.
Among those closed was Carver High School in the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood, and students from Carver had to go to Fenger five miles away. Tension rose between students from Altgeld Gardens and the neighborhood surrounding Fenger, which led to fights – among them the one in which Albert died.
Scott had been questioned about this issue, and reportedly was very upset about it.
Scott was also subpoenaed last summer by a federal grand jury investigating how students are chosen for admission to elite public schools. The probe was to determine whether some students were being "clouted" in.
Scott said at the time he was surprised by the subpoena and flatly denied that he has ever flexed his political muscle -- during two stints as board president – to clout any student into a "selective enrollment" school.
CBS 2's Susan Carlson and the Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
Monday morning is a SURPRISE to Rev. Jesse Jackson??? HUH??? Doesn’t Monday ALWAYS come after Sunday, Rev??? I have NEVER been surprised about Monday Morning.....maybe it’s just me.
Huh? Monday mornings arrive every 7 days. Is he saying he expected this?
Sounds like a Chinese Quality Control drill [down].
“Chicago Way”
ping
Suicide.
Sure
Chicago - - LMAO!
Just your typical, everyday, Democrat parasite nest.