By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org

HARRISBURG, Penn. – Pennsylvania union officials are blaming state funding cuts for a sharp drop in student test scores, despite a state investigation that identified over 100 school employees who changed answers to inflate scores on previous tests.

“Focusing on an investigation in a small number of classrooms in a small number of schools instead of acknowledging the impact of nearly $1 billion in funding cuts to all schools is a disservice to students, teachers, parents and taxpayers,” Mike Crossey, Pennsylvania State Education Association president, told Patch.com.

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Crossey is referring to state Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis’ comments that the state will soon take disciplinary action against more than 100 Pennsylvania teachers and administrators who changed student answers on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests.

Those school employees could lose their professional licenses as a result of a statewide investigation targeting 48 schools that showed irregular test score gains on the multiple choice section of the test. The state cleared 30 school districts of wrongdoing, but continues to investigate schools in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Scranton, Reading and Hazelton, as well as three charter schools, the news site reports.

The dozens of educators caught in the scandal are expected to face hearings before the Professional Standards and Practice Commission, a 13-member board of educators and professionals, which has the authority to revoke their state certifications, Patch.com reports.

We certainly hope the Commission prevents anyone involved with test tampering from returning to the classroom.

Tomalis said state PSSA test scores for 2011-12 slid from last year because of increased security measures to prevent cheating. The scores represent the new baseline for student achievement, and there’s plenty of room for improvement.

“Overall, 75.7 percent of Pennsylvania’s students are at least proficient in math, 71.9 percent are proficient in reading and 73.2 percent in writing,” according to Patch.com. “That means around 1 in 4 children are behind grade level in those subjects.”

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Tomalis calls the results “unacceptable,” and experts believe tests will only become more rigorous as the state implements national Common Core standards.

But union officials seem unwilling to acknowledge the need for improvement. They continue to frame conversations on Pennsylvania’s public education problems in terms of money, ignoring the very real problem with academic failure and cheating school employees.

PSEA President Crossey, however, does bring up an important point. Public schools across the state are struggling financially, but not for the reasons he states. The problem is mostly due to overbearing labor expenses dictated by teachers union contracts.

In light of the state’s delicate budget situation, it would be a “disservice to students, teachers, parents and taxpayers” if public schools didn’t put their limited funding to best use and trim unnecessary union expenses like payouts for unused sick days, five-figure retirement bonuses, paid “release time” for teachers to work for the union, free legal services, Cadillac health insurance plans and other costs that have no impact on student learning.

Schools would be wise to redirect those funds for extra services for students to improve their performance, or for more stringent test security to ensure that wayward teachers can no longer cheat the state’s students.