Oversight Lapses Lead to Surprising Spending Spree in Chicago Public Schools Travel
In a revealing report released Wednesday, the Inspector General of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) shed light on a significant increase in overnight travel expenditures — a trend that doubled post-pandemic, fueled by an influx of federal COVID relief funding. The findings paint a picture of questionable, extravagant travel choices made by staff, with Las Vegas emerging as the top destination.
Despite many of the seminars attended being available locally or even offered via virtual formats, trips to distant locales such as Finland and Estonia also captured taxpayer dollars. Inspector General Philip Wagenknecht characterized the situation as a failure of oversight within the CPS, condemning the lax policies that allowed such spending to go unchecked.
“Clearly, in this system, there was not significant oversight,” he stated. “Expenditures by schools and departments weren’t being carefully reviewed to ensure the trips booked were necessary, justified, and cost-effective. Had there been more diligence in this area, we could have saved substantial sums.”
In light of these findings, CPS has responded by freezing nearly all overnight travel, effective October 29. The district is also establishing a travel review committee that will deliberate on the Inspector General’s recommendations. This includes instituting two levels of approval for student travel, enforcing existing cost-saving measures, limiting the number of employees from any single school who can attend the same conference, and setting up a “Travel Desk” to vet and approve travel requests — a move that aligns CPS with practices seen in other school districts.
“We take the findings and recommendations from the Office of the Inspector General seriously,” CPS said in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring our policies uphold the highest ethical standards, reflecting our dedication to students, the district, and our city.”
The investigation examined travel expenditures over the last six years, revealing that spending for 2024 had skyrocketed to $7.7 million — more than double the $3.6 million reported in 2019, the final full school year before the pandemic. With $2.8 billion in federal COVID relief funds available, CPS had considerable flexibility in its budget, which likely contributed to the surge in travel expenses.
Under current policies, staff are required to seek pre-approval for all out-of-town trips by submitting detailed itineraries, estimated costs, and travel justification. However, the travel manual is said to contain “holes” that employees either misinterpret or simply disregard. Instances of travel without proper approval were recorded, some staff opting for luxurious accommodations or incurring significant costs for rejected trips without facing penalties.
Complications in record-keeping further complicated the situation. Travel approval requests and reimbursement forms were scattered across as many as seven departments, making it difficult to track both group and individual expenditures accurately. Moreover, distinguishing between routine field trips and overnight excursions outside the city proved challenging, allowing for potential abuses.
Among the more egregious examples uncovered was a teacher’s lavish $4,700 weeklong trip to a luxury Hawaiian resort for what was billed as a professional seminar. In other cases, CPS funds financed multi-day retreats at spas and hotels, which did not qualify for funding as they occurred less than 50 miles from staff work sites. Some international trips featured optional tourism activities, raising further questions about appropriateness.
The report also pointed to transactions involving questionable purchases and outright fraud. One case involved a clerk manipulating an invoice from a travel agency to obscure a reference to a costly hotel suite. In another instance, a principal booked a swanky hotel on the Las Vegas Strip far from a conference and extended their stay at the district’s expense to celebrate an anniversary with a spouse who is not a CPS employee. CPS is currently considering whether to discipline these employees as recommended by the Inspector General.
Concerns extended beyond domestic travel. Eight CPS schools organized 15 international trips to locations such as Estonia, Finland, and South Africa through a travel agency that, while an approved vendor, lacks a formal contract with the district. The Inspector General found that such arrangements included hidden fees of up to 20% on bills. Notably, one elementary school had earmarked $20,000 for a staff development trip to Egypt, which the report argued didn’t meet the criteria for acceptable travel — focusing more on tourism than professional enrichment. This trip was ultimately canceled after CPS was notified.
As CPS navigates these troubling revelations, the focus will be on restoring accountability and ensuring that the lessons learned lead to more prudent fiscal management in the future. The communities served by CPS deserve nothing less.