Probe reveals school test fraud is multiplying

Newsday reports:

n August 2005, a young Freeport science teacher named Richard R. Musto offered a novel excuse for why he had tampered with students' answers on a Regents chemistry exam.

Musto, who was testifying at a state licensing hearing, said he had worried that his students weren't adequately prepared for the June 2004 exam because he had taken time off from classes to look for another job. Further, Musto insisted, he had been advised by colleagues that it was OK to "give a student a point or two, just don't get caught" -- an allegation rejected by Freeport authorities.

A state hearing officer, Kevin G. O'Haire, wasn't swayed. To the contrary, O'Haire said the teacher's admission that he had altered, deleted and added to students' answers was "bizarre and outrageous." And Musto, who could not be reached for comment last week, soon had his professional teacher's certification revoked.

Less than two years later, another Long Island school district finds itself embroiled in a bigger case of test fraud. The entire Uniondale school system has been placed on academic probation due to evidence of test tampering -- the biggest scandal of its sort in recent state history. The tests in question -- last year's exams and possibly the year before -- were the Regents Math A and Math B high school exams and the State Mathematics Assessments for grades 3 through 8. No suspects have yet been named in the case, though the state attorney general's office continues to investigate.

These are "public school" values.Coercive the taxpayers,cheat on the exams,and contribute to politicians who are for public education.