E-mailed to paul.vallas@rsdla.

net and faxed to (504)309-3647

December 6, 2010

Paul Vallas
New Orleans Recovery School District
1641 Poland Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70117

Dear Mr. Vallas,

I’m reporting about the Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF), a Chicago-area nonprofit reportedly
under investigation by the Illinois Attorney General. In November 2006, ABC7 Chicago reported
a variety of false claims associated with the organization and its founder/president Carol J.
Spizzirri. Since then, dozens of media reports have raised additional related concerns, such as a
San Diego newspaper article last month that reported Ms. Spizzirri’s criminal record.

Since you promoted the organization when you were CEO of the Chicago Public Schools and
later when you were CEO of the School District of Philadelphia, I’d appreciate your answers to
some quick questions.

###

On May 26, 1999, you and Chicago Schools president Gery Chico signed a Chicago School
Board resolution stating, “(The Save-A-Life) foundation has trained 35,000 statement (sic) in
1998, including 10,000 Chicago children.”

However, in response to a federal subpoena and FOIA requests, the Chicago Public Schools’
entire records re: SALF apparently consist of 22 invoices dating from 2000-2007 indicating that
at best a few hundred people may have received training.

In a Public Service Announcement you recorded for SALF after you left the Chicago Schools,
you stated that the “Save-A-Life Foundation has trained over 400,000 Illinois children and adults
in the lifesaving skills of first aid, CPR, and the Heimlich maneuver.”

Diligent attempts to verify SALF’s training records indicate that at best hundreds of people in
Illinois ever received any training.

1. In the 1999 resolution you signed and for your PSA promoting the foundation, did you
verify the numbers of students you claimed were trained or did you simply repeat
information provided to you by SALF?

2. Have you or has anyone you know been contacted by anyone connected with the IL
Attorney General’s investigation of SALF? If so, please provide details.

The US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) awarded $3.33 million in federal grants
to SALF. In financial reports submitted to the CDC, SALF stated that the money was used to
provide first aid training classes to thousands of Chicago Public School (CPS) students. Last year,
SALF’s founder/president Carol J. Spizzirri told the Chicago Tribune that her organization
trained hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Chicago Schools students. Here’s a list of
hundreds of Chicago schools in which SALF allegedly provided the training. (The list also

1
highlights Chicago schools at which SALF allegedly trained thousands of students in a program
funded by Ronald McDonald House Charities.)

However, as I explained, CPS’s entire records indicate that at best a few hundred people may
have received training.

As described in a Bagwell for Congress press release last month, a public letter was sent by Tim
Bagwell to the Inspector General of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)
requesting an investigation to determine if the CDC millions were properly administered.

3. Do you think that the HHS Inspector General should pursue such an investigation?

At a 1999 Chicago School Board meeting, in response to a question by your associate Gery Chico
asking how much her organization’s first aid training program costs, Ms. Spizzirri stated, "It's at
75 cents a child. Except it's a dollar for the instructor." The 22 invoices show CPS paid SALF
about $62,000 from 2000-2007. Again, however, CPS records indicate that at best a few hundred
people may have received training.

4. Do you think that CPS Inspector General James M. Sullivan should pursue an
investigation to determine if the $62,000 in public funds paid by CPS to SALF was properly
administered?

Please feel free to add any related comments of any length. Thanks for your consideration and I
look forward to receiving your answers.

Sincerely,

Lee Cary
Writer, Andrew Breitbart's Big Government, the American Thinker
lee.cary@att.net

Cc:

Siona LaFrance, Director-Communications/Media

New Orleans Recovery School District

Gery Chico, Chico & Nunes P.C.

Tim Bagwell

Some of my previous writing about SALF

The Save-A-Life Foundation Story: A Study in the Chicago Way, American Thinker, June 9, 2010
The Chicago Politician (Rep. Jan Schakowsky), the Discredited Non-Profit and a Mystery
Earmark, Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government, June 25, 2010
The Cook County Jail Inmate the Chicago Papers Are Working Hard to Forget, Andrew
Breitbart’s Big Journalism, July 12, 2010
What happened to million$ in fed funding from CDC to SALF?, Cincinnati Beacon, July 31, 2010

News stories that reported my writing about SALF

In Illinois congressional race, challenger raises questions about charity by Zak Koeske, Medill
News/Politics Daily, September 28, 2010
Opponent accuses (Congressman) Shimkus of lack of oversight by Bernard Schoenburg, The
State Journal-Register (Springfield IL), September 29, 2010