Education
‘Excessive, Exorbitant’ Travel Spending by CPS Employees Cited in New Watchdog Report
(WTTW News)
Overnight travel expenses within Chicago Public Schools have skyrocketed in recent years, an internal watchdog investigation found, as employees of the cash-strapped school district spent millions on overseas trips, spa getaways and flights to Las Vegas and Hawaii.
CPS Inspector General Philip Wagenknecht’s office on Wednesday published a new report on the district’s travel and overnight spending, which jumped from around $300,000 in fiscal year 2021 to nearly $8 million in 2024.
According to his report, some employees allegedly took advantage of the district’s “lax, vague, inadequate and unenforced” travel rules and procedures, leading to the “exorbitant” post-pandemic travel spending using taxpayer funds.
“Rather than spend millions on professional development at resort spas, luxury hotels and overseas destinations,” the report states, “CPS should keep its educational seminars as close to home as possible.”
Wagenknecht’s office found that over the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years, CPS spent around $14.5 million in travel expenses, mostly for out-of-town professional development seminars or overnight student outings.
A CPS spokesperson said the district takes seriously the findings and recommendations included in the report.
“Chicago Public Schools remains unwavering in its commitment to fiscal responsibility and the success of our students,” the district spokesperson said. “As a District, CPS takes seriously our responsibility to protect the safety of our staff, students and families and to serve our CPS community with integrity, and protect our investments and resources.”
(Chicago Public Schools Office of Inspector General)
As a result of this investigation, CPS began restricting nearly all employee travel as of Oct. 29 and formed a new Travel Review Committee this month.
While CPS had a team of employees who reviewed reimbursement receipts for potential spending issues, the report states that the district should have instead been focused on travel vendor payments, which accounted for far more costs.
The investigation began, according to the report, when an elementary school paid more than $20,000 to a vendor for a staff trip to Egypt, despite not receiving the district’s sign-off on those plans. That trip was then canceled by CPS one day before it was set to begin, as were two other planned trips arranged through the same vendor.
The OIG later found that eight CPS schools had spent more than $142,000 in district funds on trips to Egypt, Finland, Estonia and South Africa for professional development and school visits. According to the report, those trips also included “tourist activities of debatable value,” including camel rides, a trip to a game park and hot air balloon rides.
Wagenknecht’s office also investigated spending related to a series of professional development conferences in Las Vegas. One principal allegedly booked an unapproved $400/night suite for himself and his wife using district funds, even though the conference was hosted at a different hotel and didn’t begin until two days after they were scheduled to arrive, the report states.
The OIG investigation found some 600 CPS employees from 140 different schools and departments spent more than $1.5 million in similar Vegas seminars between 2022 and 2024.
“Nearly 90% of CPS attendees stayed in hotel rooms that exceeded CPS spending limits, and at least two dozen took round-trip Chicago-Las Vegas flights costing more than $1,000,” the report states. “Notably, when this conference was held in Chicago, few CPS employees attended.”
In its report, Wagenknecht’s office recommended that CPS should try to keep its educational seminars as close to Chicago as possible. The OIG said CPS should consider converting a portion of an underutilized school or a vacant building into a professional development center for district employees.
CPS said it believes its travel controls, transparency and auditing will be improved with the implementation of a new enterprise resource planning system that is currently being developed.
“The core mission of CPS is clear: to provide every student with a high-quality, rigorous, inclusive, and enriching education that meets the diverse needs of all learners,” a CPS spokesperson said. “This goal requires multiple strategies along with a unified effort at every level to reduce expenditures in a sustainable way.”
