Open Illinois.org

Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the nation’s third largest district, bought 30 cappuccino machines for a culinary arts program. Many months after the purchases, 22 hadn’t been opened and one disappeared.

Three are in use — BUT, not for the culinary arts program.

The Chicago Tribune reported “employees separated the purchases to stay under $10,000 so they wouldn’t have to seek competitive bids or school board approval. Officials say the district then overpaid for the machines by more than $12,000.”

Now, there are many reasons why CPS should implement transparency and post all expenditures online, and this example simply provides one more.

How much wasteful spending, like buying $67,000 worth of cappuccino machines, do we NOT know about?

Too much money is involved with CPS for the public (and elected officials) to have such little understanding of where all these tax dollars are going and for what? Are all the tax dollars and tax hikes causing better schools and education?

Even if they were, people wouldn’t have a clear idea of how because they can’t connect the dots between funding and results. Transparency would show the links between money and results, and CPS should implement comprehensive transparency now.