By Mary Mitchell
Chicago Sun Times
Copyright 2006 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
If my house catches on fire, I’m not going to worry about how high the firefighter scored when he or she applied for the job.
I’ll be too grateful that person had the capability to apply for the job, the character to get through the training needed to be on the job, and the courage required to do the job.
After all, when it comes to training to be a firefighter, aren’t those the things that matter the most?
Although the Chicago Fire Fighters Union is blasting the city’s latest fire exam as a “joke” because 83 percent of the people sitting for the test passed, the good news is that there will be a larger pool of applicants to draw from.
Of the 17,000 applicants who got 70 percent or better on the exam, 54 percent were white, 21 percent were African American, 20 percent were Hispanic and 3 percent were Asian and Native American.
Passing candidates will now be randomly ranked. Those rankings will determine when a candidate will be called up for interviews, background checks, agility testing and training. Thus, a candidate who got a perfect score on the written test could flunk out in any of the other four categories, while someone who got only a passing grade on the written test could perform exceptionally well in all the other areas.
ANOTHER INDICTMENT OF SCHOOL SYSTEM
Historically, the firefighter exam has been fraught with problems, particularly the exam administered in 1995.
When the results for blacks and Hispanics proved to be disappointing, we pointed out that the test was drafted by an African American with the hopes that the test would not come under attack.
We failed to take into consideration that many of the black firefighters who were already on the force didn’t have much confidence in a written test -- no matter who crafted it.
That’s because not enough minorities and women ended up in the “well-qualified” grouping to come close to diversity.
No one can say with certainty why more minority candidates didn’t score as high as whites did on the 1995 test.
Some argued that many of the test-takers lacked basic study skills.
From my perspective, the difficulty minorities had achieving top scores seemed to be just another indictment of the city’s abysmal public school system.
Still, when you think about it, an overweight child-abuser can score a “well-qualified” on a written test, but the city wouldn’t want him in the Fire Academy.
‘YOU’RE NOT GETTING THE BEST’
Given the fact that we are still talking about a fire department that is overwhelmingly white, it makes sense to increase the minority pool by making the test results a simple pass or fail.
After all, there are 5,077 firefighters, and 67.4 percent are white. Only 303 are women.
Despite the pass/fail system now in place, fewer minorities took the latest test, which means the department is going to remain a bastion of white males for a long time to come.
But instead of seeing the latest exam results in a progressive light, some aldermen are accusing the city of dumbing down the test for the sake of diversity.
“I’m worried that, ultimately, we won’t get the best,” Ald. Ginger Rugai (19th) told reporters after the results were announced.
John Chwarzynski, president of Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2, was even more critical of the exam.
“This is a job that deals with saving lives and property, and they’re looking to pick and choose [to achieve diversity]. That exposes firefighters to danger because they’ll be working alongside less-qualified individuals,” according to Chwarzynski.
“It potentially puts citizens at risk because you’re not getting the best,” he said.
LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD
The notion that test scores can determine who will perform the best at a fire scene is flawed because you have to take into account training and character.
Frankly, for the city to continue the practice of breaking down test scores into well-qualified and qualified and calling up people on that basis would not only be unfair, but it would maintain the status quo.
Finally, it is insulting to now suggest that the top brass in the Chicago Fire Department -- people whose families also live in the city -- would risk the safety of their own families by hiring people who aren’t qualified.
But I’m not surprised there is such an uproar.
“If you look at what Ald. Rugai and others are saying, they are simply saying the people we depended on to have these jobs in perpetuity now have to share them,” said a source familiar with the exam. “The test was as challenging as any previous test, but we aren’t now saying someone is well-qualified.”
Removing that one stumbling block is enough to level the playing field.