Statement by Nick Schuler

February 5, 2020

As was announced this week, I am resigning my position as the CPS Inspector General after five
years. I am proud of my service and proud of the people who have worked for me and what they
were able to achieve. I was a demanding and frequently impatient boss, and drove my employees
hard, sometimes excessively hard, to achieve what they achieved. My tough management style
led to complaints by employees, some of which I think were justified. (Reported complaints
about my behavior are exaggerated, and allegations that I discriminated against anyone on the
basis of race or gender are totally baseless.) That all led to an eventual discussion between me
and Mayor Lightfoot in which she requested my resignation. The law is clear that statutory
officers have the right to be removed only for cause, and I could have contested in court whether
I had truly given adequate cause to be removed. However, after careful thought, I decided that it
would be better for me and better for CPS to give the resignation the Mayor requested, so that
the morale of the entire office could improve as quickly as possible and everyone could fully
concentrate on the oversight and student-protection missions of the office.
This episode has raised an important question about the continuing independence of the Office of
Inspector General. Among other deficiencies, the statute that gives life to the CPS IG is silent on
the critical issue of how the IG can be removed and for what grounds. This inadequacy in the
IG’s governing legislation can be exploited by those who wish to corral an independent IG. I
know from long dealings with CPS that many people there have been displeased by the tenacity
of my efforts and my willingness to speak frankly and publicly about our work. Accordingly, I
can’t discount the possibility that some within CPS seized upon the complaints against me in a
calculated way with hopes of getting an IG more to their liking.
However, I am confident that Mayor Lightfoot is firmly dedicated to independent IGs and knows
the value of their work. I hope and expect that she will appoint a completely independent and
outspoken IG.
There are opportunities for progress here. In particular, this is an ideal time to enact that key
structural repair to the IG’s governing law, namely, codifying precisely how the IG can be
removed and that removal must be for cause and only after a public hearing.
I believe in the power of independent IGs, and I think they have helped to make Chicago finally
ready for the reform that I believe is well underway.