Illinois corruption 8/21/12: School superintendent, board member, charged with theft

Corruption isn't just for the big-time politicians in Illinois. It reaches into a school district serving a poverty-stricken swath of Chicago's southern suburbs, federal prosecutors allege.

From the Chicago Tribune:

The 1,400 children attending West Harvey-Dixmoor Elementary District 147 have long faced a public school system that struggles to teach them and pay the bills.

Now the superintendent who ran the district for more than a decade and an elected board member face felony theft and official misconduct charges.

Former Superintendent Alex Boyd appeared Tuesday in Cook County court for a bond hearing on charges he stole nearly $500,000 from the cash-strapped district, in part by padding his vacation and sick time and racking up unauthorized credit card bills.

Board secretary Mable Chapman is accused in the same case of helping Boyd to pad his pay while the district hired her family members and paid for them to go on cross-country trips with her.

Stories such as this one are not the "new normal" in Illinois. They are the "old normal."

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