CPS inspector general looks at hiring of firm with Claypool ties

The Chicago Public Schools' inspector general has opened an investigation into the hiring of a law firm with ties to CPS chief executive officer Forrest Claypool and his general counsel.

Inspector General Nick Schuler said Monday his office started an investigation after the Chicago Sun-Times reported last month on the Chicago Board of Education's deal with Jenner & Block LLP. The firm is in the midst of a years-long process of paying out $1 million in severance to Ron Marmer, CPS' top attorney.

Schuler declined to comment further.

Acting in closed session on July 27, the school board voted to pay as much as $250,000 to Jenner & Block, which spent months preparing a never-filed lawsuit against the state seeking increased funding.

The Sun-Times reported Marmer left the law firm in 2013 but has continued to receive yearly payments of $200,000, which are to end in 2018.

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