Shop

For years, Chicago taxpayers have been paying an exorbitant price for the faulty financial decisions of school officials - only they didn't know it. Not surprisingly, leaders of the city's public schools weren't advertising the high costs of the losing bets they had placed in a risky debt market. Over the life of the deals, Chicago Public Schools will likely end up paying $100 million more than it would have if officials had stuck with traditional fixed-rate bonds. The story implicated state lawmakers, the school district's financial advisors, and the current school board president in the disastrous deals.