Nov. 23, 2011, 8:15 a.m.  It started with student rumors. That is what Jenny Anderson and Winnie Hu report on Wednesday in The New York Times, as 13 more students were arrested this week for cheating on the SAT in Nassau County on Long Island.  The scandal has now grown to include 20 students who prosecutors say either paid someone to take the SAT for them, or took money to take the test for others.  The investigation began when administrators at Great Neck North looked into student rumors. Their focus soon fell on students who had registered to take the tests outside the district, and those whose scores and grades showed a disparity. They turned over the details to prosecutors, who opened a broad examination.  Altogether, 40 students were investigated by the Nassau County district attorney’s office, The Times reports. Some of the cases had expired under the statute of limitations, and so no charges were brought.  Some people, including lawyers for the arrested students — many of whom are now in college — argue that the entire matter should have been handled administratively by the College Board, which owns the SAT exam.  “While no one condones cheating, we have a school system that is separate and apart from the criminal justice system, and we have that for good reason,” said Brian Griffin, a Nassau County lawyer representing Joshua Chefec, 20, now a senior at Tulane, who was accused of taking the test for others.  But the Nassau County district attorney, Kathleen M. Rice, said the College Board at first brushed off the problem, saying it was an isolated incident. It has since come around to see cheating on its all-important exam as a nationwide problem, and proposed stronger controls to prevent fraud.  “This is a crime,” Ms. Rice said in a news conference on Tuesday to announce the 13 additional arrests. “Make no mistake, as the system stands now, hard-working students are taking a back seat to the cheaters.”  In New York City, reports about missing teachers and faulty schedules for high school teachers are beginning to pile up, leading to questions of whether there is a systemic problem in the city system when it comes to scheduling.  The latest report involves the Grace Dodge Career and Technical Education High School in the Bronx, where about 300 students have been without an English teacher since early in the school year, The Daily News says.  A Department of Education spokeswoman told The News that two English teachers retired abruptly in October, and that left 10 classes without an English teacher.  The school of almost 1,400 students was given an F on its latest school progress report, even though it is a “transformation” school and is getting extra money from the city to improve. The News reports:  Instead of learning composition and grammar, the kids sleep, socialize or cut class, senior Michelle Sanchez, 17, said.  “We just sit there and stare at each other,” said the frustrated teen. “Kids cut school and smoke weed around the corner. Or they walk around the halls and get into fights.”  Scheduling messes were also reported this year at Long Island City High School in Queens and at Queens Metropolitan High School in Forest Hills. And The News reminds us that:  Kids at Frederick Douglass Academy VI in Queens held a protest at that school last Friday to demand English instructors for about 75 students who hadn’t had one since the start of the year.  Finally, InsideSchools reports on a new organization, started by the active parents at Public School 321 William Penn in Park Slope, Brooklyn, to help other parents in city schools. The group, the Public School Parent Support Project, wants to gather and centralize information so that other school parent groups don’t have to start from scratch. Good idea!  Mark your calendars: On Dec. 8, WNYC, a partner with The New York Times in SchoolBook, is sponsoring an event featuring its popular host Brian Lehrer at Pratt Institute in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn: “School Choice: Too Much of a Good Thing?” The event will include an interview with Schools Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott and a panel discussion with some of SchoolBook’s contributors and others.  The event is free, but you must obtain tickets in advance. More information can be found here, and you will be hearing more details in SchoolBook in the coming weeks.  Finally, SchoolBook will publish sporadically during this long holiday weekend, as schools close and everyone’s interests shifts from students and schools to family and food. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Mary Ann Giordano is the editor of SchoolBook. Follow her on Twitter @magiorNYT.
The SAT cheating scandal in Nassau County has grown to 20 arrests and half a dozen schools. Prosecutors said that it began with student rumors, which led school officials to examine inconsistencies in performance. Some people argue that it is not a criminal matter and that the College Board should have handled it administratively. What do you think?