According to a report in The Washington Post, public officials in Washington, D.C. pulled strings to bypass a lottery system for the general public so their kids could get coveted spots in the public school system.

The Washington Free Beacon explains:

Seven out of 10 people requesting special treatment received help from Chancellor Kaya Henderson who rejected favors requested by others with less influence, including a deaf Vietnamese immigrant asking that her daughter get into a school where she could practice sign language.

Henderson reportedly admitted to giving preferential treatment but defended herself, arguing that she was "thoughtful and judicious in her decisions and did not hand out the discretionary placements ‘like candy’" and by seeming to suggest that public officials didn't make enough money in D.C.

City Administrator Rashad M. Young was one official who received special favors from the chancellor. Young reportedly makes almost $300,000 per year. Though he is one of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s top deputies, she denied any wrongdoing in the matter.

“News of the scandal came in a report on a D.C. Inspector General's investigation into Henderson's conduct during the 2015 lottery season,” Sam Dorman writes in his report.