The longtime principal of Farragut High School is under investigation for allegedly rigging grades for his star soccer players over the past five years and pressuring teachers to keep quiet, Chicago school officials confirmed Wednesday.
Edward Guerra, 60, is set to retire next week with a $100,000 pension after a 34-year career with Chicago Public Schools and start a $130,000-a-year job as principal of Waukegan High School.
Guerra acknowledged Wednesday that he is the investigation’s target and that there had been “hanky panky” over grades for soccer players and a handful of other students. However, he said he never changed any grades and is confident he will be vindicated.
Waukegan District 60 officials said they didn’t know about the investigation before being contacted by the Tribune on Wednesday. Two board members said they found the allegations troubling and, if substantiated, could jeopardize the job offer. But Waukegan Supt. Donaldo Batiste said he stands by Guerra and won’t get “caught up in the hype.”
The investigation started last fall with a tip to the inspector general’s office of the Chicago Public Schools. Teachers were questioned about the grades they gave to soccer players, at least two of whom had five F’s transformed into A’s. One soccer player who dropped out eight weeks early was allowed to graduate after receiving credit for four summer school classes he never took. In all, about 20 Farragut teachers were questioned about the scheme over the past school year.
Chicago Public Schools chief Arne Duncan acknowledged the investigation, but he declined to discuss it. If a principal was found to have changed grades, he said, “that would be a very serious matter and grounds for dismissal.”
Guerra said the investigation is “just one more vendetta” that he has faced during his 12-year tenure as Farragut principal. He blamed fired teachers and an investigator in the inspector general’s office for trying to concoct “a smear campaign” against him. Guerra said he asked to have the investigator removed from his case because the investigator was angry over a relationship with a mutual female friend.
“Screw the investigation. I’m not afraid of it. It’s going nowhere,” Guerra said. “I’m not saying I’m Mr. Teflon. But I’ve always kept my nose clean.”
Guerra said he conducted his own investigation and streamlined the process to prevent the problem in the future. He said he found it “outrageous and totally wrong” that one soccer player received credit for taking four courses in summer of 2003–impossible in a system that offers students only one six-week course per summer.
The summer credits were recorded on his transcript in April 2004, the day after the student dropped out and effectively flunked his last semester. But the bogus summer credits allowed the student to graduate, a source said.
“Absolutely there was some hanky panky with the grades,” he said. “But why would I change a kid’s grade? What do I have to gain? I’m the target because I run the school.”
Inspector General James Sullivan confirmed that Guerra was being investigated and said he can’t discuss details until he issues his report, expected shortly. However, he said the investigation was triggered by a tip, not by a vendetta by a member of his staff.
“Our evidence is supported by interviews and documents,” Sullivan said. “No one had any vendetta against Mr. Guerra, and all investigative activity is done under my direction and with my knowledge.”
Amanda Lankford, who taught physical education and health at Farragut, said investigators questioned her two months ago about the grades she gave to a varsity soccer player a few years ago. She gave the student an F “because he never came and never did his work.” Lankford said she was told the player got an A in her class.
Lankford said she was summoned to Guerra’s office shortly before she was scheduled to meet with investigators.
“He basically told me I wasn’t supposed to answer anything,” said Lankford, a non-tenured teacher who was fired by Guerra this spring. “He told me I was supposed to tell them there was a flood at the school and couldn’t find my records. I never was able to get a copy of my records to take to the meeting.”
Farragut is not known as an athletic powerhouse, but Guerra took an extraordinary interest in the fate of his soccer teams, according to interviews with three teachers.
He attended every game and sometimes coached from the sidelines. The players were given perks other student athletes never got–top-notch gear, clothes and permission to leave school hours early before matches, the teachers said.
Paul Joanes, a 20-year Farragut teacher and longtime cross country coach, said the grade-fixing investigation was common knowledge in the school and was hardly a surprise, given the preferential treatment “the administration” extended to soccer players.
“They were pampered and given everything they wanted, and they haven’t learned anything,” Joanes said. “To hand kids things like that … it totally ruins them. The kids don’t even see it as being wrong.”
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Guerra said he never coached teachers on what to say to investigators. “I told them be sincere, be honest, and answer all their questions. Ethics was my first, middle and last name.”
Guerra signed on for another four years at Farragut in February when the local school council offered him a contract through 2010. He said he hadn’t planned to retire, but the new job offered him a windfall at a time when he was paying college tuition for his two children.
Guerra was known at Farragut for his “take-no-prisoners” style and crackdown on student violence. With more than 2,400 students, Farragut serves the Little Village and North Lawndale communities.
Guerra was one of three finalists for the Waukegan job. Waukegan High School is strikingly similar to Farragut–a large, mostly Latino urban school that struggles with high poverty, low test scores and gang violence.
The Waukegan board approved Guerra by a 6-1 vote, and the April 11 press release announcing the appointment gushed about his qualifications. “Guerra is credited with transforming Farragut from a violent, non-achieving school to a safe, positive learning institution,” the release read.
June Maguire, a 27-year member of the Waukegan board, said she voted against hiring Guerra because he “came on too strong in terms of handling people.” She said she was shocked by the allegations.
“I think this is a grave situation,” she said. “Students should earn the grade they get.”
If the allegations are true, she added, “I would ask that [Guerra] be removed.”
The revelation about the investigation marks the second time in two years the Waukegan school district’s choice for principal of its only high school has been found to be under scrutiny for conduct at a previous job. In June 2005, the district rescinded an offer it made to a former principal from Texas when it discovered he had resigned from his last job amid an investigation of his relationship with a district employee and alleged violation of the district’s hiring rules.
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