More than a year after then-state education Secretary Ron Tomalis vowed to file “well over 100" complaints against Pennsylvania educators over alleged cheating on state tests, the state has disciplined five.
Action was taken against four in Philadelphia and one in Erie, ranging from a public reprimand to a surrender of some teaching certificates. State education officials say they never comment on complaints that are under review.
A report analyzing irregularities arrived at the state education department in July 2009, but officials said it basically sat on a shelf. It came to light in 2011 when an online publication ran an article about it, triggering Mr. Tomalis to order an investigation. It focused on atypical erasure patterns in which unusual numbers of answers were changed from wrong to right on state tests in 2009, 2010, and 2011.
