Well, this is shocking! Duncan took a parachute…..and @GovernorMarkell genuinely likes this guy’s policies….. #netDE

Report: Secretary Duncan got $50K payout from Chicago schools – POLITICO.com

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan got a $50,000 payout in unused sick and vacation leave when he left his job as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools system to join the Obama administration.

According to a new report by the watchdog group Better Government Association, the secretary was able to take advantage of department policy to covert unused, accrued benefits into a cash payout. Since 2006, Chicago’s school system has paid $265 million to employees under this policy, with $227 million for sick days alone. The policy was put into place by the Chicago school board and predates Duncan, a spokesman for the secretary notes.

“People should take a good hard look at whether or not that policy makes any sense and whether it should be kept in place in these tight budget times,” Duncan said in a statement.

Chicago-mayor (and former White House chief of staff) Rahm Emanuel has ordered a halt to payments and a change in the rules, after the report surfaced. ”This policy is unacceptable to the Mayor and not consistent with the City’s sick day policies for its own employees,” a mayoral spokeswoman said. 

Duncan, a reformer who has made his mark as a powerful Secretary of Education, served as head of the Chicago school system from 2001 until he was tapped to serve as Education Secretary by President Obama in 2009.