The New York Times reports:
Clarence D. Mumford Sr., a former teacher and assistant principal in Memphis, was sentenced Monday to seven years in federal prison for orchestrating a scheme to help teachers cheat on certification exams.
There's more:
Mr. Mumford, who worked in the Memphis City Schools district for more than two decades, initially refused a settlement offer on conspiracy and aggravated theft charges. But he pleaded guilty to the two counts of a 63-count indictment in February, and in Federal District Court on Monday, Judge John T. Fowlkes of the Western District of Tennessee handed down the prison sentence and ordered him to pay a $167,339 fine.
Prosecutors said that for 15 years, Mr. Mumford had doctored driver’s licenses and enlisted teachers to impersonate others in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee at exams that many states require for teaching licenses.
A sweeping federal investigation found that Mr. Mumford’s scheme involved 36 people, including Mr. Mumford’s son, Clarence Jr., who had a stand-in take a test for him, and Cedrick Wilson, a former wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers who worked as a substitute teacher in Memphis. Between 1995 and 2010, prosecutors said, the senior Mr. Mumford collected more than $120,000.
As Professor Reynolds would
say if this was a private school system we would hear about something systemically wrong. The great moments of public education. No word on this story from Professor Cass Sunstein who believes that conspiracies in the public sector are non-existent.
