State leader questioning Pittsburgh Public Schools soaring travel costs

PITTSBURGH — A state leader is calling out the superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools for the amount of money the district has spent on travel since he took over.

Costs have nearly tripled in the last three years since Anthony Hamlet was hired, according to Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, who also said there's little explanation as to how these trips are benefiting students.

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The district's annual travel budget increased 179-percent over the last three years, according to the audit.

In 2019, the cost was more than $450,000, which is enough to buy 600 iPads for students a year.

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Every trip must be reviewed to ensure it improves the quality of learning, and he doesn't believe that was happening, DePasquale said.

Channel 11 contacted Pittsburgh Public School leaders, who said those trips were needed to better their staff and learn how similar urban school districts operate. They also said the money spent is less than 1 percent of its overall budget.

The investigation started after a trip to Cuba that Channel 11 reported on in April, when several leaders, including Hamlet, went without the full school board's approval.

That trip is what first caught DePasquale's attention and he said he's still looking into the case.

Cox Media Group