Cheating scandals have engulfed public schools in Georgia, Florida California and several other states, and may be more far-reaching than any in history. The scandal involves not students caught cheating, but teachers and principals who organized wholesale cheating and falsification of answer sheets to assure the continued flow of millions of federal dollars.
Since teacher merit pay reforms rely on test results, widespread cheating raises new questions about how school boards and parents are supposed to evaluate teacher performance.
It is time for a thorough and immediate criminal investigation under the federal RICO statutes.There is strong evidence of a conspiracy to defraud the federal government. The magnitude of the cheating across several states strongly suggests a conspiracy of national scope.
Congress should hold oversight hearings to evaluate the adequacy of investigations underway in both the Justice Department and the US Education Department, which administers the multi-billion dollar No Child Left Behind program.
Please do not ignore this Petition to the Government for a redress of grievances. I demand action!
