The Associated Press
CHICAGO - The city will give its first examination in more than a decade to screen applicants for the Fire Department, officials announced Wednesday.
The results will be used to replace an eligibility list that a federal judge said discriminated against black applicants.
The test, set for spring 2006, is intended to improve the diversity of the Fire Department’s academy and inject some youth into a candidate pool with an average age of almost 38.
“Because of ongoing court challenges, we have not given a firefighters exam since 1995, and we’re still hiring from a list of candidates that passed a decade ago,” Mayor Richard M. Daley said at a news conference. “That is truly unfair to the many highly qualified young men and women who would like to become firefighters/E.M.T.'s but have been unable to apply.”
The department will offer the written test every three years on a pass-fail basis, said Cortez Trotter, the fire commissioner. All passing applicants will be processed randomly for background checks and for more testing on skills like physical agility.
The firefighters’ union says it is pleased that the city has decided to hold more frequent exams, but the decision not to rank applicants by performance may not sit well with members, said John Chwarzynski, president of Firefighters Local 2.