#5 Finding: The OIG provides a Formal Process for Allegations but Produces Few Convictions

About the CPS OIG

The mission of the Office of Inspector General for the Chicago Public Schools is to investigate waste, fraud, employee misconduct and financial mismanagement. To carry out this mission, the organization has been given unprecedented power typically unavailable to other school districts. It has far greater investigative capability than either DCFS or the police because of OIG’s immediate ability to subpoena witnesses, phone records and other documents. The OIG also can conduct searches of school-owned buildings, vehicles, lockers, desks, and computers without a warrant. No other school district has this capability.

Despite this capability, the OIG came under fire in 2018 as a result of a Chicago Tribune investigative ‘Betrayed’ series that examined the sexual exploitation of students in Chicago Public Schools. Clearly, leading up that time period, CPS failed to protect its students. At the time it was disclosed that 430 students had been sexually abused, assaulted, or harassed between 2011 and 2018. The CPS Law Department, not the OIG, investigated the cases.

While the Tribune investigation was still underway, the Chicago School Board retained Maggie Hickey, a partner with the law firm Schiff Hardin and a former Illinois Executive Inspector General over agencies under the direction of the Governor, to conduct her own investigation. The Chicago Board of Education also began implementing needed changes that were disclosed during the course of the Tribune investigation. It was also reported by the Chicago Tribune that the Chicago Teachers Union leadership did not engage in Ms. Hickey’s process. Once the new process improvements were being implemented by the Board - like stronger background checks and decisions to terminate numerous teachers suspected of misconduct - tensions emerged between the union and CPS administrators.

Another notable change implemented by the Board directed the creation of an Office of Student Protection and Title IX to coordinate all efforts to protect students. The Board also shifted the responsibility to conduct sexual misconduct investigations from the Law Department to the OIG.

Beyond the ‘Betrayed’ Series

Since the shift was made in 2018, the OIG has been responsible for handling all sexual misconduct investigations when a school employee or contractor is the alleged perpetrator. If the OIG develops information that documents a criminal offense, the agency is required to involve the Chicago Police Department. After doing so, they may remain involved in the case to assist the police.

Despite the improvements in the results of CPS sexual misconduct investigations, there remain some concerns about the OIG’s results. The most recent annual report FY2022 produced by the OIG released in January 2023 shows that between 2018, when the OIG took over the investigation of sexual misconduct cases, and 2022, the office opened a total of 1,733 cases. During that same period the office closed 1,384 cases. However, 2022 was the first year that the office closed more cases than it opened during the year—447 opened and 602 closed - and gained significant ground after the Covid 19 pandemic with the support of more resources hired and trained to support this endeavor.

While the above seems to be promising, only 16 criminal charges with less than half resulting in convictions were from the 1,700 cases investigated by the OIG. We later learned that this reference involved 16 charges, not 16 people. It is a smaller number of teachers who were actually charged with criminal offenses. It is not yet clear yet how many were charged and convicted. We are continuing to investigate.

The report also listed a number of reasons that such cases are difficult to prosecute, but there is nothing unique about the sexual abuse cases involving teachers as compared to other child predators. All cases involving children are difficult. Still, once the decision is made to prosecute the case, the conviction rates should be no different than prosecution for other crimes unless there is a problem with the quality of the investigation or the quality of the prosecution. At this stage, we have no insight into why the numbers prosecuted and the numbers convicted are so low. Our research team has been limited from receiving the information that might uncover the problem.

Comprehensive Process Leads to Few Terminations

Another issue we identified is the number of cases investigated that led to teachers being terminated. Making a criminal case requires developing evidence of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Terminating a teacher for sexual misconduct should only require a preponderance of the evidence, in other words, more than 50%. Many cases are described in the report that appear to provide a preponderance of evidence that led to little consequences. Again, we are not sure about this assessment as we were denied access to the information that would allow us to develop a more informed judgment. Our efforts to gather more information remain underway.