The new Chicago Public Schools CEO, Jean-Claude Brizard, was named in two federal discrimination lawsuits in his three years as the head of the Rochester, N.Y. public school system. Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel defended Brizard by comparing the cases to suits former CPS CEO and current U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, once faced.

Duncan was accused of firing an employee for dishonesty, while the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found probable cause that Brizard fired a female deputy because of her sex, age and race. A second suit accused Brizard of creating a "rubber room" for teachers under investigation.