Chicago Public Schools officials' shady deals come back to haunt them as watchdog reveals nearly $89K in fake billing scheme
A former top official at Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has been found guilty of running a massive phony billing scheme that bilked the district out of nearly $89,000. Former CPS Principal and Network Chief Brian Metcalf was just one of several staff members who made off with public funds by submitting fake invoices for goods and services that were never provided.
Metcalf's scheme was uncovered as part of an annual report published by CPS Inspector General Philip Wagenknecht's office, which detailed a range of cases involving staff members who exploited the district's trust to line their own pockets. The report revealed that Metcalf had worked with vendor Kimberly Maddox to generate fake invoices for goods and services that were never provided.
The scheme involved submitting inflated numbers of Native American students to increase funding from the Indian Education formula grant, a federal program that provides cultural and educational programming to students with Native American ancestry. The inspector general found that staff members routinely inflated student enrollment numbers to boost funding, which resulted in the district receiving nearly $1 million in grants based on false data.
The report also highlighted other cases of misconduct by CPS staff, including a former special education teacher who operated an OnlyFans page featuring explicit photos and videos taken at her school's bathroom. Another teacher lied to investigators during misconduct probes and used his CPS email account to register for an adult dating website.
Despite the serious nature of these findings, Wagenknecht emphasized that every dollar must be accounted for, saying "some of these fraud cases don't have huge price tags on them, but tens of thousands or a hundred thousand of public money is too much to be stolen or misused."
Metcalf has agreed to pay CPS restitution and will be sentenced in April. He faces significant consequences for his role in the fake billing scheme, which was part of a larger pattern of misconduct by CPS staff.
The revelations have raised concerns about the district's accountability and oversight procedures, with Wagenknecht calling for more discipline against managers who allowed these schemes to occur. "It should have been corrected then," he said.
CPS has promised to implement new protocols to verify tribal membership through federally recognized documentation from students, parents, or grandparents. The district also stated that it was terminating the program manager responsible for inflating student enrollment numbers and placing them on the "do not hire" list.
A former top official at Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has been found guilty of running a massive phony billing scheme that bilked the district out of nearly $89,000. Former CPS Principal and Network Chief Brian Metcalf was just one of several staff members who made off with public funds by submitting fake invoices for goods and services that were never provided.
Metcalf's scheme was uncovered as part of an annual report published by CPS Inspector General Philip Wagenknecht's office, which detailed a range of cases involving staff members who exploited the district's trust to line their own pockets. The report revealed that Metcalf had worked with vendor Kimberly Maddox to generate fake invoices for goods and services that were never provided.
The scheme involved submitting inflated numbers of Native American students to increase funding from the Indian Education formula grant, a federal program that provides cultural and educational programming to students with Native American ancestry. The inspector general found that staff members routinely inflated student enrollment numbers to boost funding, which resulted in the district receiving nearly $1 million in grants based on false data.
The report also highlighted other cases of misconduct by CPS staff, including a former special education teacher who operated an OnlyFans page featuring explicit photos and videos taken at her school's bathroom. Another teacher lied to investigators during misconduct probes and used his CPS email account to register for an adult dating website.
Despite the serious nature of these findings, Wagenknecht emphasized that every dollar must be accounted for, saying "some of these fraud cases don't have huge price tags on them, but tens of thousands or a hundred thousand of public money is too much to be stolen or misused."
Metcalf has agreed to pay CPS restitution and will be sentenced in April. He faces significant consequences for his role in the fake billing scheme, which was part of a larger pattern of misconduct by CPS staff.
The revelations have raised concerns about the district's accountability and oversight procedures, with Wagenknecht calling for more discipline against managers who allowed these schemes to occur. "It should have been corrected then," he said.
CPS has promised to implement new protocols to verify tribal membership through federally recognized documentation from students, parents, or grandparents. The district also stated that it was terminating the program manager responsible for inflating student enrollment numbers and placing them on the "do not hire" list.
CPS has some major issues to deal with... who knew running a fake billing scheme could add up to nearly $89K? 
Metcalf's scheme was shady AF, but I guess you get what you pay for, right? 
the fact that they were inflating student enrollment numbers just to get more funding is straight-up sus. 
like, how many times did they have to do this before someone caught on? 
and onlyFans in the classroom? girl bye 
the CPS needs to get their act together ASAP, new protocols for verifying tribal membership are a good start, but it's gonna take more than that to fix this trust issue. 
. According to the inspector general's report, Metcalf's fake billing scheme was part of a bigger pattern of misconduct by CPS staff, with over $1 million in grants lost due to inflated student enrollment numbers 
. That's crazy! 
And what's even crazier is that some of these staff members were using school resources for personal gain, like a teacher running an OnlyFans page at their school 
. It just goes to show that even in public service, there are still people who think they can game the system 
. Corruption can be anywhere, but what's good to see is that the watchdog stepped in and exposed the scheme 
. I mean, $89K might seem like a lot, but think of it as small change for those who are trying to make a difference 
. And hey, at least CPS is learning from their mistakes 
. Implementing new protocols to verify tribal membership will help prevent this kind of thing from happening again 
. It's all about accountability and transparency 
!
.
. If Metcalf didn't have some corrupt manager breathing down his neck, who knows what would've happened? 
We need more leaders like Philip Wagenknecht who aren't afraid to speak truth to power and make sure everyone is held accountable.
. It's up to us to make sure we're not enabling these kinds of behaviors in our own communities, by being more vigilant and paying attention to the little things 
.
, but I think this whole situation is a bigger lesson for all of us - about integrity, accountability, and looking out for each other 
.
like what's wrong with him?! He's just one of many staff members who thought they could get away with it. The whole thing is so messed up - inflating student numbers to get more funding is just crazy talk! 
Like, what a betrayal of trust! Anyway, I'm all for CPS taking action and implementing new protocols to prevent this kind of thing from happening again 
.