CHICAGO – Chicago Teachers Union officials are turning on Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett, who is taking heat over a shady $20 million deal between her former employer and the school district.

“Our initial reaction to this is that we’re concerned about the effect this has on the integrity of the district,” CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey told the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s disappointing that there’s this cloud of unethical behavior that follows our district around.”

Sharkey’s comments are in reference to a federal investigation into a $20.5 million no-bid contract CPS awarded to SUPES Academy, Byrd-Bennett’s employer until April 2012. SUPES Academy provided “leadership training” for school and district officials. Byrd-Bennett was appointed CPS CEO by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in October 2012, the Chicago Tribune reports.

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The U.S. attorney’s office announced its investigation this week, though federal authorities and a grand jury have been eyeing evidence for at least a year, according to media reports.

“District records show SUPES was hired on a ‘non-competitive basis’ but the contract was reviewed and approved by an internal committee and the district’s chief procurement officer,” according to records reviewed by the Tribune.

Byrd-Bennett’s $250,000 per year contract expires in June and it won’t be renewed “unless the investigation is cleared up,” two City Hall sources told the Sun-Times.

“If it was just this one allegation and this one story of federal investigation, that would be one thing. But we’ve been complaining about a pattern of questionable ethical practices for a while,” Sharkey told the news site.

Sharkey said the CTU is not calling for Byrd-Bennett’s resignation, as unions often do. And that’s likely because Byrd-Bennett came to Chicago with the union’s blessing.

CTU President Karen Lewis told the Associated Press in October 2012 that Emanuel’s appointment of the “highly qualified” Byrd-Bennett was “a good beginning” toward repairing the union’s relationship with the city, which was ravaged at the time because of a self-centered teachers strike.

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“She has a reputation of doing well in labor-management relationships,” Lewis said.

“Other union leaders praised Byrd-Bennett as knowledgeable and experienced,” the AP reported at the time.

Now, apparently, the CTU is throwing her under the bus.

Sharkey said the SUPES deal – which was inked as Lewis praised Byrd-Bennett to the press – “has a smell of not being ethical,” the Sun-Times reports.

He also took the opportunity to take pot shots at members of the city’s board of education.

“Sharkey pointed to Board of Education president David Vitale, who heads a bank while negotiating financial deals for the district,” according to the news site. “Board member Deborah Quazzo has invested in companies that do business with CPS and with charter schools she has voted to authorize, as the Chicago Sun-Times has reported, and Chief Academic Officer Tim Cawley now deals with the Academy for Urban School Leadership, which used to employ him, Sharkey said.”