By now we know the tawdry tale of how Evans and Archie tried to pressure you into rejecting a recommendation by students and parents at Martin Luther King High to award a $50 million contract to Mosaica instead of Foundations Inc. King, you see, was part of Evans' "overarching plan" to create a "Northwest Education Corridor," and he and Foundations were already partners in other schools.
In other words, Foundations had his blessing.
But you did the right thing. You refused to bend. And didn't give in - even as you found a target on your back.
Evans then went over your head and took his case directly to the SRC in a specially arranged private meeting by Archie.
Only to be rejected again. So he took to some knee-shaking, Philly-style arm-twisting, trying to force Mosaica to pull out. Evans himself described his actions at a meeting with Mosaica's CEO as being like a "dog on a bone." Leroy Nunery 2d, your assistant back then and now your temporary replacement, described the meeting as like being a scene from The Godfather.
But Evans wasn't done with you yet. Even after a shaken Mosaica withdrew, Evans tried to force you to recommend Foundations as a replacement.
But you held firm, despite Nutter, the one man powerful enough to squash the madness, turning his back on you when you asked for help.
I applaud Nutter for ordering the investigation of backroom dealing and making it public, but I can't help but wonder what his role was in this mess.
What we do know is that at some point the mayor was too busy cutting his own backroom deal with anonymous donors to pay part of the $905,000 for you to get lost.
More proof that you were right when you said that your refusal to play politics in the King debacle marked "the beginning of the end" for you.
