Six more Chicago Public Schools Employees, Including Teachers Maureen Nagy and John D. Johnson, Have Been Charged With Theft

It's a sad commentary when teachers are charged with stealing from their school system. Well, according to the Chicago Sun Times, six more Chicago Public Schools employees have been charged with theft, accused of being involved in a payroll scheme authorities said defrauded the school system out of more than $135,000.

According to David Condron, assistant Cook County state attorney, teachers Maureen Nagy and John D. Johnson, as well as Brigitte Saffold, John D. Johnson, Adam Perry, Tiffani Louise Isabel and Naomi Maxon all received paychecks for time they didn’t work. They allegedly gave CPS payroll employees Tremaine Edwards and Mark France 50 percent or more in kickbacks from the extra cash they got. According to the Sun Times, the six all pleaded not guilty, and Judge Dennis Dernbach allowed all to go free on $20,000 personal-recognizance bonds. Edwards and France issued the checks between July 2007 and January of this year, aware that new payroll safeguards had not yet been put in place, according to prosecutors. Gee, that's really dumb. I guess these idiots did not realize that their actions were traceable.

According to the attorney, Edwards told the group that the new payroll system was “messed up” and that he had a way to get them extra money. The school system's inspector general, James Sullivan said that CPS officials became aware of payroll discrepancies after Bogan Technical High School’s principal alerted them to suspicious activity involving Johnson’s paychecks.

If these people were that stupid to think that was "free money" they ought to go to prison just for that. I am from a family of teachers and I respect every decent, dedicated and hardworking teacher out there and must caution that a few bad teachers are not representative of the profession. I am, however, appalled that teachers, who are in such an awesome position to effect change in the lives of their students, could stoop so low, and the charges allege. It is a sad commentary and a real shame.