The demotion of Linda Chase from principal to teacher hasn`t ended the mess she created in Lake Forest`s School District 67 by rigging students`
scores on standardized tests. As the district`s attorney has recommended, the school board should take steps to dismiss her completely.
Chase has been a popular, successful teacher and principal during her 19 years in the Lake Forest schools. She has won numerous honors. And the test scores of students in Cherokee School, where she was principal, have been remarkable-so much higher than in Lake Forest`s three other elementary schools that parents began raising questions.
Investigation showed Chase had ordered Cherokee teachers to cheat in various ways to improve achievement-test results. After five days of public testimony by several teachers, a hearing officer ruled that five of the charges against Chase had been proved by a preponderance of credible evidence. The school board then voted 6-0 to dismiss her as principal.
But unless the school board takes further action, Chase will remain a tenured teacher, although she is now without a specific assignment. There is some sentiment in Lake Forest for restoring her to a classroom. Children would benefit from her teaching skills, her supporters argue. Her career would be salvaged.
This is not a case for sentiment, however. Chase`s pressuring of teachers to inflate students` scores was no trivial, impulsive matter. Nor was it simply an abuse of office. There was systematic, ongoing fraud. And it reflects a lack of integrity that should disqualify her as an instructor, too. Difficult as it is to fire a tenured teacher, the District 67 school board should take the steps necessary to do so.
The Chase case has prompted another round of debate about using standardized tests in schools. Opponents say such testing puts too much pressure on students and teachers, that the tests tend to dictate curriculum and that the emphasis on scores invites widespread cheating.
The need for such testing outweighs these concerns. Parents-and taxpayers-have a right to know how well their schools are performing, what weaknesses should be improved, whether school reforms are working and how well tax dollars are being spent. Standardized tests provide information that grades and other evaluations cannot.
Of course, demanding parents, zealous school boards and taxpayers insisting on immediate results can be used as excuses for teachers or administrators to cheat on test scores. Most wrongdoers can find excuses. But deliberate cheating on tests is a serious violation of professional integrity that disqualifies Chase not only from a job as principal but as a teacher.
