
“Tens of thousands of laptops, iPads, and cellphone hot spots” owned by the Chicago public schools “were lost or stolen during the 2023-2024 school year. Suggesting that organized theft and not just carelessness might be at work, thousands of the devices wound up in other countries.”
Thousands of electronic devices belonging to the Chicago Public Schools ended up overseas after being lost and stolen, according to a new report from the CPS Office of the Inspector General.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when kids were learning from home, lost and stolen device numbers skyrocketed. But nearly five years later, lost and stolen electronic devices remain an issue that is costing CPS a lot of money when the school district is facing major budget issues.
Altogether, tens of thousands of laptops, iPads, and cellphone hot spots were lost or stolen during the 2023-2024 school year.
Thousands of those devices—bought and paid for with Chicagoans’ tax dollars—have ended up in other countries.
A total of 8,346 devices were detected outside of Illinois. A majority of them ended up overseas in 140 countries—including Azerbaijan, Barbados, China, Ethiopia, Jordan and Nicaragua.
The OIG report found CPS’ “entire inventory process suffered from a lack of accountability”—recommending the district resolve asset management issues, since it is paying for geo-tracking services it “barely used.”
Chicago’s left-wing mayor forced out school board members who objected to fiscally-irresponsible policies promoted by the Chicago Teachers Union, which has played a key role in making Chicago’s schools dysfunctional. The mayor also is trying to remove the school superintendent after he objected to fiscally irresponsible school policies.
Due to unnecessary spending, “Chicago Public Schools is in dire financial straits, yet Chicago Teachers Union blocks” the “closing of near-empty, failing schools,” reports WirePoints.
Indeed, the union wants more staff to be hired for schools that are almost entirely empty and have hardly any students. “Illinois Policy Institute Policy Analyst Hannah Schmid said the Chicago Teachers Union is emboldened with Johnson in the mayor’s office.” “We’re seeing these extreme demands” like the demands for “nine new staff members at every school, even those schools with 4% of their building filled with students,’ Schmid told Center Square.
Breaking campaign promises, Chicago’s left-wing mayor, Brandon Johnson, has sought to get rid of high-achieving high-schools in the name of “equity.”
Chicago’s mayor has proposed left-wing policies that would shrink the quantity and quality of housing in the city.