Cheating

When you accuse your man of cheating, what better way to do it than on TV? La La Vasquez doesn't mess around. But Melo, well, she thinks he just might be. Fans of the Baltimore-raised basketball star are all a-twitter this week after La La dropped a bit of a bomb on Monday's episode of her VH1 show, "La La's Full Court Life. " Approaching one of her husband's assistants -- a young, attractive, single one -- La La throws down a little, ""I just want to know: Are you messing with my man?

The Atlanta Journal Constitution--the newspaper that single-handedly uncovered a massive cheating scandal in Atlanta's public schools last year that saw its superintendent resign in disgrace and several educators possibly facing criminal charges--took its investigation one step further this past weekend by looking at suspicious test scores in districts across the nation. Baltimore City was one of the districts highlighted in the AJC's large-scale project called "Cheating our Children: The Journey from cheating in Atlanta Schools to suspicious tests nationwide" , published this past weekend.

The former principal of George Washington Elementary School denied Sunday any involvement in test tampering at the school during her tenure, even though she is being held responsible for thousands of answers being changed on student tests two years ago. Susan Burgess, whose professional license was revoked after an 18-month investigation by Baltimore City and state school officials uncovered evidence of cheating at the school, said she was "shocked"...

When you accuse your man of cheating, what better way to do it than on TV? La La Vasquez doesn't mess around. But Melo, well, she thinks he just might be. Fans of the Baltimore-raised basketball star are all a-twitter this week after La La dropped a bit of a bomb on Monday's episode of her VH1 show, "La La's Full Court Life. " Approaching one of her husband's assistants -- a young, attractive, single one -- La La throws down a little, ""I just want to know: Are you messing with my man?

As a recently retired 37-year veteran of the Baltimore City Public Schools, I read with considerable interest your recent front page report on the cheating at George Washington Elementary School. While I in no way condone cheating in any form, it is possible responsibility for this can be attributed to both the school and the school system. The pressure to document acceptable numbers on tests has become almost an obsession. It's not far afield to compare this to college basketball and football coaches on the bubble when their teams fail to produce praiseworthy win/loss records.

Unfortunately, it appears that for some time Baltimore City school personnel have been setting an example for students that cheating is acceptable as long as you don't get caught ("Schools keep eye on testing," March 5). Here's my suggestion for eliminating this problem during the city schools' annual standardized achievement testing period: Arrangements should be made to ensure that the students being tested are the only individuals who touch the test booklets or answer cards.

A 46-year-old Columbia woman was sentenced to 10 months of home detention and four additional years of probation Friday for inflating the hours she worked as a contractor to overbill the National Security Agency by nearly $109,000, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office announced. Ann Warwick worked for Business Consulting Technology LLC, a subcontractor providing intelligence analyst services for the NSA, from August 2009 to July 2010, when she's accused of adding 836 hours to her time sheets, at a rate of more than $100 per hour.

I've heard horror stories about dog-walkers. People who hired a dog walker to come in every day to walk their pup, only to find out that the person took the money daily, but never touched the dog. Or the one about the woman who returned home from work once to find that the pup waiting there for her belonged to someone else. People who hire dog-walkers trust that they will actually show up, actually take their dogs out -- and keep them out and moving for the amount of time paid for. But that doesn't always happen.

Widespread cheating on state assessment tests has been uncovered at two Baltimore elementary schools, state and district officials are expected to announce today. Investigators with the state Department of Education found that Maryland School Assessment scores were compromised at Abbottston Elementary in 2009 and at Fort Worthington Elementary in 2009 and 2010, according to city schools CEO Andrés Alonso. The disclosure marks the second time in little more than a year that city school officials have had to acknowledge cheating at schools recognized nationally as models of successful urban education, including one visited by the first lady and the other by the U.S. secretary of education.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution--the newspaper that single-handedly uncovered a massive cheating scandal in Atlanta's public schools last year that saw its superintendent resign in disgrace and several educators possibly facing criminal charges--took its investigation one step further this past weekend by looking at suspicious test scores in districts across the nation. Baltimore City was one of the districts highlighted in the AJC's large-scale project called "Cheating our Children: The Journey from cheating in Atlanta Schools to suspicious tests nationwide" , published this past weekend.

This week, schools in Baltimore City and across Maryland are administering the state standardized tests in reading and math for students in the third through eighth grades. There's a lot riding on the outcome. Among other things, the test results will help determine how much students are learning, whether the schools they attend are improving or falling behind, and perhaps even whether some individual teachers and principals keep their jobs. The test will also play a significant role in decisions about which schools are allowed to remain open and what their level of funding will be. With so much at stake, it's vital to ensure the reliability of the test results.

Unfortunately, it appears that for some time Baltimore City school personnel have been setting an example for students that cheating is acceptable as long as you don't get caught ("Schools keep eye on testing," March 5). Here's my suggestion for eliminating this problem during the city schools' annual standardized achievement testing period: Arrangements should be made to ensure that the students being tested are the only individuals who touch the test booklets or answer cards.

The Baltimore school system will deploy testing monitors to all schools administering the state assessments next week, even as the city principals union has called for investigations into alleged cheating at 16 schools to be suspended. CEO Andrés Alonso has ordered steps over the past two years to prevent cheating scandals, this year spending about $360,000 on monitors. He also has taped a video message with stern warnings about the consequences of cheating, telling educators that it could be a career-ending move.

A federal judge sentenced father and son William and Donald Turley on Friday to 18 months in prison for using the family business to cheat the National Security Agency out of nearly $1.5 million, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office announced. William Turley, 71, is from Annapolis; Donald Turley, 54, is from Owings, in Calvert County. Together they ran the Bechdon Co., located in Upper Marlboro, which made metal and plastic parts for the NSA. The men purposely overbilled the agency for hours that were never worked for more than a decade, prosecutors said.

Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff reminds me of his predecessor, Matt Stover. He'll never be as accurate, but he was just as professional Sunday night when he missed the 32-yard field goal in the closing seconds which would have tied the game. Instead, New England beat the Ravens, 23-20, for the AFC championship and the right to play in the Super Bowl. After the game, Cundiff spoke at the podium. As expected, his tone was somber but he didn't back away from any questions or become frustrated while being scrutinized by the media.

Baltimore Fire Department recruits were allowed to see confidential testing materials before an exam in June because the training staff didn't know better, according to newly public documents that detail the internal investigation into the city's Emergency Medical Services training program. "I think that the motive wasn't nefarious. … There was a lot of inexperience," Fire Chief James S. Clack said after releasing the report. "They were trying to do things right; they just didn't know what was right.

Parents expressed outrage Thursday that someone at Baltimore's George Washington Elementary School changed thousands of answers on state standardized tests in a cheating scandal that is calling into question the school's hard-fought achievements. "It's deceiving," said Linda Thompson, a mother who was picking up her first-grader at the Southwest Baltimore school that was awarded a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence designation in 2007. "I feel cheated." Thompson said she has always boasted about her daughter's Blue Ribbon school but said she believes the incident will bring into doubt students' recent gains.

WASHINGTON - Last week, school officials in Piper, Kan., adopted an official policy on plagiarism - with punishments ranging from redoing an assignment to expulsion. Unfortunately, all that comes too late to help Christine Pelton. She used to be a teacher. Taught biology at Piper High, to be exact. Then, last fall, she assigned her students to collect 20 leaves and write a report on them. The kids knew from the classroom syllabus - a document they and their parents both signed - that cheating would not be tolerated.

Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo, who suffered a mild concussion in the 23-20 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, was on the field for the portion of Friday's practice open to the media, making it three days in a row that Ayanbadejo has practiced on at least a limited basis. Ayanbadejo must pass a concussion test on Saturday to be cleared to play against the Seattle Seahawks, something Ravens coach John Harbaugh expects will happen without issue. “I don't know if it's official yet, but we're anticipating that,” Harbaugh said.

After this Thursday's episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia concluded, I uttered the words “it's back.” Finally, after most of the season being down the crapper, “Sunny” fans got their money's worth in “Chardee McDennis.” What's Chardee McDennis? A board game the gang came up with for boring days. During the show's open, Charlie throws a fit about playing for some reason. The game appears to not just be any old game, but actually a war. Charlie doesn't play any game you can't get annihilated in… Level 1 (Mind)