A recent report from Chicago’s Office of the Inspector General has raised concerns over what it describes as “questionable, excessive” spending on overseas trips by Chicago Public Schools (CPS) staff.
The report highlights travel expenses for trips to destinations such as Egypt, Finland, and South Africa, prompting calls for a reevaluation of CPS’s travel policies.
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On Wednesday, the oversight watchdog urged CPS to overhaul its travel protocols after revealing that the district’s travel costs soared to $7.7 million last year.
This amount is more than double what was spent five years ago, prior to the pandemic, according to the report.
The findings indicate that CPS employees frequently exceeded budget limits and charged trips and activities without obtaining necessary approvals.
One notable example cited involves a professional development conference in Las Vegas, attended by over 600 employees between 2022 and 2024, which resulted in expenditures exceeding $1.5 million.
Nearly 90% of attendees stayed in hotel rooms that exceeded CPS spending limits.
The watchdog group also found about 40% of all conference attendees traveled without receiving approval.
This all comes while CPS faced a $734 million deficit this year, before passing a $10.2 billion budget in August.
CPS says the district takes the report findings seriously, saying in part, “Effective October 29, CPS is restricting nearly all employee travel and has formed a Travel Review Committee, effective November 2025. Travel controls, transparency, and auditability will improve with the implementation of the new Enterprise Resource Planning financial system that is currently underway.”
The school district says this new system will hopefully improve automation and implement more restrictions for travel requests and expenses.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said they have no comment at this time because they’re still going through the IG report.
