Chicago public schools blow millions on travel expenses while students can't read at grade level

A scathing study from the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed that the schoolhouse strategy spent a staggering $14.5 cardinal successful "excessive" question expenses successful FY 2023 and FY 2024 combined.

The study comes arsenic information shows that conscionable 30.5% of students successful grades 3–8 were proficient successful reading, and conscionable 18.3% of students were proficient successful mathematics successful the outpouring of 2024. 

"It is simply a bittersweet commentary connected conscionable however acold our metropolis has fallen and however atrocious the enactment is," Chicago pastor Corey Brooks told Fox News Digital. "These individuals judge that spending wealth connected themselves benefits our acquisition strategy much truthful than spending it connected the children who truthful rightfully merit it."

"In our neighborhood, there's a 6% speechmaking proficiency," Brooks added. "And present you're talking astir the wide for Chicago being 30%, that is thing that needs to beryllium spoken by everyone who is successful power."

A blistering Chicago Public Schools Inspector General study revealed that CPS spent $14.5 cardinal connected excessive question successful FY 2023–24 adjacent arsenic pupil proficiency rates plummeted—with lone 30.5% speechmaking and 18.3% mathematics proficiency successful grades 3–8 and astir 41% of students chronically absent. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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The CPS OIG study showed that the schoolhouse strategy spent $7.7 cardinal successful FY 2024 alone, a 2,467% summation successful question expenses from FY 2021’s $300,000 spending. Pre-pandemic spending from CPS was inactive dramatically lower, showing $3.6 cardinal successful question expenses for FY 2019. 

CPS OIG's study besides reveals schoolhouse strategy officials took lavish trips to Las Vegas, Egypt, Finland and South Africa. 

In summation to the proficiency levels for grades 3–8, information besides shows that successful outpouring 2024, conscionable 22.4% of CPS 11th graders were proficient successful speechmaking based connected SAT scores, a trial which is required by the authorities of Illinois. Similarly, 11th graders showed conscionable 18.6% proficiency successful math. 

"The Chicago Public School strategy is simply a implicit dumpster fire," Educational Freedom Institute Executive Director Corey DeAngelis told Fox News Digital. "These government-run institutions are sentencing children to a aboriginal without opportunities."

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Amid dire world show and attendance rates, pastor Corey Brooks blasted CPS enactment for prioritizing lavish question implicit students’ needs, calling it "a bittersweet commentary connected however acold our metropolis has fallen." (Getty Images)

"Chicago Public Schools walk astir $30,000 per pupil and astir of the kids inactive can't work connected people level," DeAngelis added. "The authorities schoolhouse strategy is simply a bottomless pit, lighting payer wealth connected fire, portion perpetually asking for more." 

In summation to the mediocre proficiency levels, schoolhouse attendance has besides been a large contented successful the Windy City. If a pupil misses 10% oregon much of schoolhouse days during the year, CPS labels the pupil a chronic absentee. 

In 2024, 40.8% of students successful CPS suffered from chronic absenteeism.

MORE THAN 40 PERCENT OF CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS ABSENT AT LEAST 10 DAYS IN PAST SCHOOL YEAR: REPORT

"These young children aren't adjacent going to schoolhouse now, and you ne'er perceive [about] it," Brooks explained. "No 1 ever talks astir it."

"You person third, fourth, fifth, sixth graders who can’t read, and they're going to yet go frustrated to the constituent of what we're seeing, conscionable saying, I quit, I'm not going to go," helium added. "You adhd to that the deficiency of parenting. Where parents are allowing these children to conscionable bash what they privation to do… they're conscionable disinterested, and they're falling by the wayside each azygous day."

CPS responded to Fox News Digital’s petition for remark by saying they person formed a committee to reappraisal question expenses. CPS said the committee was effectual Oct. 29 and that a missive was sent to each CPS unit connected that date. 

CPS told Fox News Digital they person changed their question policies aft the schoolhouse strategy spent millions connected "excessive" expenses.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

CPS besides noted that they are restricting "nearly each worker travel."

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"Travel controls, transparency, and auditability volition amended with the implementation of the caller Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) fiscal strategy that is presently underway, a spokesperson for CPS told Fox News Digital. "ERP volition amended automation for improved reconciliation betwixt question requests and question walk arsenic good arsenic automate restrictions connected types of travel, amounts, and accounts."

"We instrumentality earnestly the findings and recommendations from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and volition proceed to guarantee our District policies and procedures enactment the highest ethical standards and that our employees enactment successful the champion involvement of our students, the District, and our city," the spokesperson added.

Brooks besides told Fox that educational, metropolis and authorities leaders often disregard the needs of the wide damaged nationalist schoolhouse system, saying officials get to enactment their kids successful the "best schools" portion nationalist schoolhouse students suffer.

"[They] are looking astatine the involvement of themselves, not looking astatine the involvement of their children, but adjacent much so, they get to nonstop their children to backstage schools and the champion schools portion children successful our neighborhoods proceed to fail," helium explained. "That's not right."

Preston Mizell is simply a writer with Fox News. Story tips tin beryllium sent to [email protected] and connected X @MizellPreston, Fox News' Tessa Hoyos contributed to this report.