By Fran Spielman
Chicago Sun Times
Copyright 2006 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
More than 83 percent of the 20,400 people who took Chicago’s first firefighters entrance exam in more than a decade passed — and 44 percent of them are minorities — City Hall announced Monday amid concern that standards have been reduced in the name of diversity.
“I’m very surprised at that large a [passing] number. I’m worried that, ultimately, we won’t get the best,” said Ald. Ginger Rugai (19th), whose Southwest Side Ward is home to more firefighters than any other.
But Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), chairman of the City Council’s Police and Fire Committee, hailed the results as a “huge step in the right direction” for African Americans, who make up 21 percent of the passing group.
Of the 17,000 applicants who got 70 percent or better on the May 25 and 26 exam, 54 percent are white, 20 percent are Hispanic and 3 percent are Asian. The passing group is 86 percent male and 14 percent female.
HISTORY OF DISCRIMINATION
The applicant pool was 49 percent white, 26 percent black, 21 percent Hispanic, 2 percent Asian and 86 percent male.
The Chicago Fire Department has a long and documented history of discrimination and racial tension. The 5,077-member department is 67.4 percent white, 20.1 percent black and 10.4 percent Hispanic. The higher the rank, the whiter it gets. Only 303 firefighters are women.
Passing candidates have now been lumped into a giant pool and assigned a random ranking based on an algorithm that uses their Social Security numbers.
The rank will be used to determine the order in which candidates are summoned to the fire academy for interviews, background checks, agility testing and, ultimately, training.
City Hall announced last fall that the entrance exam would be conducted on a pass-fail basis. The decision to market heavily, start testing every three years and replace a disputed 1995 eligibility list with a pass-fail pool was “all about fairness,” Mayor Daley said at the time.
Drafted by an African American with an eye toward diversifying the Fire Department, the 1995 firefighters exam drew more than 26,000 applicants to the United Center.
When the results for minorities were disappointing, the city established a cut-off score of 89 and started hiring randomly from the top 1,800 “well-qualified” candidates.