It turns out the rumors were true: CPS recruiters were planning to hold a "secret" job fair for invited guests only.
It sounds so absurd that even school officials kept in the dark didn't believe it.
"Chicago Public Schools officials burst into laughter this week after a teacher announced at a School Board meeting that she heard a rumor CPS was holding a 'secret job fair' July 31," the Sun-Times reports.
"'I can dispel the rumor,' schools CEO Ron Huberman told the giggling crowd. 'There are no secret teacher fairs. Any teacher fairs are public. Everyone is invited, and they are advertised'."
It turns out Huberman and his band of giglgers were misinformed. The job fair was a secret.
"Tickets had already been issued to an 'invitation-only'' CPS job fair at McCormick Place," the Sun-Times reports. "One invitation, obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, stated that tickets were non-transferable and attendees were required to have their tickets checked off against a 'master list.' 'Misuse' of any ticket 'may result in non-admittance to future CPS events,' the invitation warned."
Now, it's not entirely unreasonable that those arranging the fair didn't want to be inundated with thousands of folks looking for work in an awful economy who wouldn't qualify in the least, but on the other hand, why hold a job fair if you already have a recruiting pool?
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Either way, rookie schools chief chief Huberman just learned an important lesson: absurd rumors about CPS doings are as likely to be true as not.
The job fair will now be open to anyone who wishes to attend.
Steve Rhodes is the proprietor of The Beachwood Reporter, a Chicago-centric news and culture review.
