Evidence showed that the teacher and her partner lived with their kids in a single- family home in Chicago at the address the teacher had on file with CPS for most of her career. In late 2019, however, the teacher sold the property and purchased a home in Gary, and she and her family moved there in 2020. The teacher did not have, and was not eligible for, a CPS residency waiver.
The teacher told the OIG that she and her partner had “big plans” for the Gary home, but when those plans “went south,” she decided to stay in Chicago while her partner and children lived in Gary. Nevertheless, the teacher admitted that she worked remotely for CPS’s Virtual Academy from the Gary home every day, and claimed that she commuted back to Chicago at night.
The OIG did not find the teacher credible because she repeatedly lied about her true address. After she sold her Chicago home, she changed her address on file with CPS to one in Hyde Park that was actually a mailbox at a UPS store. The teacher later admitted to the OIG that she didn’t live in Hyde Park and instead claimed that she lived elsewhere in Chicago with a CPS colleague. When the OIG interviewed the colleague, however, she said the teacher never lived with her.
Throughout their time together, the teacher’s partner received income-based AllKids and SNAP benefits from the State of Illinois despite the teacher’s CPS salary. A report by the Inspector General for the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services found that the partner failed to report the teacher’s income and continued to receive Illinois benefits even after moving out of state to Gary. The OIG found that the teacher was aware that her partner received benefits and knew or should have known that he failed to report her salary.
The OIG recommended the teacher receive a Do Not Hire designation and would have recommended discharge had she not resigned during this investigation. Accordingly, CPS has given her a Do Not Hire designation.
- Elementary School Teacher Fraudulently Obtained Public Benefits from the State of Illinois and Free/Reduced Meal Eligibility for Her Children (20-01050)
A former elementary school teacher fraudulently obtained SNAP and AllKids public benefits from the State of Illinois. Because recipients of these benefits can be directly certified by CPS as eligible for free and reduced-price meals, the teacher’s children were also improperly designated as FRM-eligible at their CPS schools.
The teacher was employed at CPS from August 2003 until her termination and Do Not Hire designation in February 2021 for drinking alcohol while on duty. In June 2020 — well before she was fired — the teacher applied for state benefits, claiming that her employment with CPS had ended that month. In reality, the teacher was still gainfully employed with CPS and continued to be until her termination. Due to her false application, the teacher qualified for and began receiving benefits in June 2020.