by John Grisham
Dr. Stoop was highly regarded and commanded respect. The city was proud of its school system, and she got most of the credit for its success.
Mrs. Boone walked her through a series of questions about the standardized tests: the reasons behind them; how long they had been in place; changes that had been made; challenges they posed; problems they had created. Dr. Stoop admitted that she was not convinced the tests were the best method to measure the academic progress of the students. She admitted, frankly, that she preferred other methods, but the state had passed a law requiring the tests. The tests were tied to state funding, and if Strattenburg declined to participate, which it had the option to do, then it would lose a lot of money. Limiting the discussion to the eighth grade, she described the results for the three middle schools over the past five years. East Middle had always lagged behind the other two, and this had been a major concern of the school board. Yes, the teachers at East were put under pressure to improve the scores or the school would face penalties.
Dr. Stoop was a veteran who was smart and calm. She knew what she was talking about and was quite candid. Theo and April watched and listened with rapt attention. Theo was especially proud of his mother. She moved around the courtroom in complete control and with total confidence. He had never seen her in a courtroom before, primarily because in most of her cases the courtrooms were closed to the public.
She asked about the most recent round of tests, and Dr. Stoop explained that the results were good overall, top ten percent in the state, with the exception of East Middle. However, even there, the scores showed an impressive improvement.
“Did the rise in scores at East raise any suspicions in your office?” Mrs. Boone asked.
“Not at first. We were thrilled with the results when we first saw them, but after looking closer we began to have a few doubts. We decided to look into some of the individual test results.”
“What did you find?”
“A higher number of erasures. A lot of the eighth graders seemed to have chosen the wrong answers initially, then, after erasing them, somehow managed to pick the right answer every time.”
“Can you give us an example?”
“Yes. At your request, I brought a couple of the test results. I believe you have them.”
Mrs. Boone walked to her table and reached for a file. She handed copies to Jack Hogan, Judge Gantry, and to the witness. Dr. Stoop explained that the first document was the score sheet for an unnamed East eighth grader, and it showed the answers for twenty math questions. The student at first missed half of the problems, then he or she erased seven of the original answers and recorded the correct ones. “Seven for seven was a red flag,” Dr. Stoop said. As the red flags piled up, she and her staff began to realize they might have a problem.
“How many eighth graders were tested at East Middle School?” Mrs. Boone asked.
“One hundred and eighteen. We began checking all of them, and the problem was unfolding when I received the anonymous letter. It came from a ‘concerned citizen’ and it really upset everyone. It was specific and mentioned the names of two eighth-grade teachers who allegedly changed scores.”
April reached for Theo’s hand and squeezed it until he could almost feel bones crunching.
Mrs. Boone handed copies of the letter to Jack Hogan and Judge Gantry, then asked Dr. Stoop to read it aloud. When she did, April flinched and seemed to hold her breath.
When she finished, Mrs. Boone asked, “What was your reaction to the letter?”
“Well, we were stunned, to say the least. I met with our school board attorney, Mr. Robert McNile, and we decided to immediately conduct a thorough investigation, one that led us to the five teachers.”
“Nothing more at this time, Your Honor.”
Judge Gantry looked at the prosecutor and said, “Mr. Hogan?”
Jack Hogan stood, walked to the podium, and politely said, “Thank you, Dr. Stoop. Now, I would like you to explain the bonus system that applies to some of your teachers.”
“Certainly. It’s not a good system and not one that I favor, though we really have no choice. It was implemented by the state, and we have no say in the matter. Basically, it provides for merit-based pay increases of up to five thousand dollars for teachers whose students improve dramatically on the the standardized tests.”
“What’s considered a dramatic improvement?”
“There is a formula that is hopelessly complicated, but, generally speaking, if the entire eighth grade shows an overall improvement rate of fifteen percent from the previous year, and fifteen percent of the class lands in the top ten percent for the city, then the teachers qualify for a bonus. Other factors include the teacher’s experience and number of college degrees. Again, I don’t like the bonus scheme. All of our teachers are underpaid, and it seems silly to reward one small group.”
“Would you agree that these five teachers had a financial reason to change test scores?”
“Frankly, Mr. Hogan, I cannot speculate as to their reasons.”
“Thank you, Dr. Stoop. Nothing further at this time, Your Honor.”
“You are excused, Dr. Stoop,” Judge Gantry said. “Call your next witness.”
Mrs. Boone stood and said, “Mr. Paul London.”
Theo knew his parents were taking a chance. They planned to put all five defendants on the witness stand and have them discuss their roles in the scandal. In doing so, the teachers would admit to doing things that were wrong. They would say that they deserved to be punished, but the punishment should not come from the criminal justice system; rather, it should come from the school board. They would be fired as teachers. Their professional careers would be over; their reputations damaged; their lives seriously damaged if not ruined. They would probably never teach again. But, they did not deserve to be tried, convicted, and labeled as felons. By being completely honest about what they had done, perhaps in the end they might win favor with the judge.
Paul London was an impressive witness. He had taught for twenty years and won every award the city offered. He loved the classroom and his students loved him. He had a master’s degree and for the past ten years had been working on his doctorate. He took full responsibility for changing the test scores. He had recruited the other four teachers to join him; it was all his fault.
Why? Well, it had begun a few years back when he grew tired of seeing his students fall short on the standardized tests. He changed a few scores to help his students, then a few more. Many of the kids at East, his kids, were from lower income families, and they didn’t have the same opportunities as other students at other schools. It was frustrating to watch them fall short on the standardized tests that were unfair to begin with—and be labeled slow learners.
When Mr. London described his students, he did so with great compassion, and eloquence. His testimony became a dramatic performance, one that captivated the courtroom. He looked at Judge Gantry and said, “How can you compare a student with only one parent who lives in a tiny apartment with a student with two parents and grandparents and private tutors when necessary? How can you compare a student whose parents speak little or no English to a student whose parents have college degrees? How can you compare a student whose father is in prison to a student whose father is a doctor? How can you compare a student who had nothing for breakfast with a student who ate too much for breakfast? How can you compare a student who started preschool as a three-year-old to a student who arrived here too late for kindergarten?”
The courtroom was still and silent. Judge Gantry nodded and said nothing. No response was expected.
Mr. London sneered at the idea that the teachers were cheating for extra money. He said, “My salary now is almost fifty thousand a year, after twenty years in the classroom, and I’m expected to spend a chunk of that buying supplies for my students. I even buy food for them. A few extra bucks in bonus money is not going to help me or the other teachers. That’s a ridiculous accusation. We never thought about the money. We were just
trying to help our kids. That’s all.”
When Mrs. Boone sat down, Jack Hogan rose and asked, “So you admit to changing test scores?”
“I do.”
“And you admit to doing this with the other four teachers?”
“I do.”
“And you admit to knowing there was the possibility of financial gain for you and the others?”
“I do, yes, sir.”
“I have nothing else at this time, Your Honor.”
A conspiracy was a group effort to do something wrong, and Theo realized that Paul London had just admitted, under oath, to being part of a conspiracy. The question would be: Was the “wrong” they conspired to do really a crime? If Judge Gantry believed their efforts were driven by a desire to collect bonuses, then they would be treated like criminal defendants.
After Paul London’s performance, Theo doubted anyone could really believe the teachers’ motives were driven by money.
The next witness was Emily Novak, a twelve-year veteran at East Middle School and one of the two April had named in her letter. Not long after she stated her name and address, she broke down and started crying. She pulled herself together, but for the next fifteen minutes was on the verge of more tears. One of her favorite students was a young girl from a bad home, a place where she was always in danger. She had been mistreated by various relatives and abandoned by her mother. She felt safe at school and considered the teachers to be her protectors. For the girl, school was more about physical safety and a stable environment—in other words, survival. Learning was not as important. She fell behind in every class, and Ms. Novak spent hours with her trying to catch up. When the tests were given, the girl had just been placed in a different foster home. Not surprisingly, her scores were terrible. Ms. Novak altered some of her answers, but the girl was still placed in Remedial. She quit school halfway through the ninth grade and disappeared. Ms. Novak considered herself a failure for not doing more to save the girl, but at least she tried. There was no excuse for changing her scores, but it was important to look at the scandal from the view of the teachers.
When she started crying again, Theo looked at April. She had tears in her eyes, and she was shaking her head. She whispered, “I feel perfectly rotten, Theo.”
Two hours passed quickly as they listened to the five teachers admit their wrongdoing and give their reasons. At 4:30, Judge Gantry called for a fifteen-minute recess. Theo and April stayed in their seats. “What do you think, Theo?” she asked quietly.
“I don’t know but I’m worried. All five have admitted their guilt, so there’s no way they will ever go to trial. If Judge Gantry allows the criminal charges to stand, then the best they can hope for is some kind of plea bargain.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means they’ll plead guilty in return for a light sentence.”
“But they’ll still go to jail?”
“Not always. For crimes that are not that serious, ones that do not involve violence or large amounts of money or defendants with bad records, they sometimes work out a deal where they are required to pay a fine and put on probation for a few years. If they screw up again, then they go to jail. But they will always have a criminal record.”
“They seem like such good teachers.”
“Yes, they do.”
When the courtroom was settled, Mrs. Boone walked to the podium and began: “Your Honor, we’ve heard the honest and sincere testimony from these five defendants. They have all admitted wrongdoing. They are remorseful beyond words. They are professional educators who allowed their emotions to lead them into bad decisions. They have already been punished by being suspended from the classroom, by facing the likelihood of losing their jobs, and by the damage to their careers and reputations. What good is more punishment? What good comes from allowing these five excellent teachers to be chewed up by our criminal justice system? If you allow these charges to go forward, each of the five will be forced to hire lawyers, at great expense, with money they don’t have. Each will face the humiliation of a trial and more public attention. Each will run the risk of going to jail. Jails and prisons are for criminals, Your Honor, not for schoolteachers.”
She paused and walked to the edge of the jury box, though it was empty. She spoke without notes but with great conviction. Theo had watched many fine lawyers in court, and at that moment his mother was one of the best. He felt enormous pride and was surprised to realize that his throat felt tight. Was he getting choked up? He swallowed hard.
“Now, the claim by the prosecution that these teachers entered into a conspiracy to commit fraud for financial gain is ridiculous. You heard their words, Your Honor. They were not motivated by money. They did not risk their careers over a few bucks in bonus money. What they did was wrong, but what they did had only one goal and that was to help their students survive in this super-competitive environment that we have created. We, Judge, all of us. We expect the best for our children, and we allow the school system to classify them so that the brighter ones will be rewarded even further. It’s a bad system, Judge, and one that we should do away with. I know—that’s not my role in all of this. But, it helps to explain what they did.”
She walked to the defense table and waved her hand at the five. “My clients did not engage in criminal behavior, Your Honor, and I demand that these charges be dismissed.” When she sat down, the courtroom was silent.
Jack Hogan stood slowly and walked to the podium. He was an old pro Theo had watched many times. He said, “Thank you, Your Honor. When I was in the sixth grade, a long time ago, my favorite teacher was Mrs. Greenwood. She was funny, smart, pretty, and she was strict. She taught history and she gave really hard tests, so hard that I was having trouble in the class. One day we were taking a final exam, a really long, difficult test, and three of us figured out a way to cheat. It was multiple choice, and I was sitting right behind the smartest kid in class. He agreed to move his paper to the far side of his desk so I could peek over his shoulder. Once I stole the correct answers, I signaled them to my other two buddies. It worked brilliantly until we were caught. Mrs. Greenwood got suspicious, confiscated our exams, and marched us down to the principal’s office. Since all three of us had the same answers there wasn’t much we could say. My father had taught me the dangers of lying, so I admitted to cheating. I told the truth. It was a bad scene. My two buddies and I were suspended for a week and put on probation. I was embarrassed and never felt tempted to cheat again. Mrs. Greenwood was very disappointed, and I was crushed by this. What did we learn? Well, we learned a valuable lesson in what was right and what was wrong. We learned that cheating was wrong and led to bad results. And we were the kids, the students. I could never imagine Mrs. Greenwood cheating, or any of my other teachers for that matter. Students sometimes cheat, but not teachers! They make and enforce the rules. They teach right from wrong. They set a proper example. They are the adults in charge of our children, and when they cheat and cover up it’s far worse than when the students do it.
“Your Honor, we now know that these five people knowingly, and intentionally, and even with the expectation of one day getting caught, entered into a conspiracy to provide fraudulent test results. That’s a crime in my book! They scoff at the idea that it was for money, but money was a potential factor. This cannot be denied. They don’t make much money so maybe they wanted some more. I don’t know, but if we are allowed to go forward with these charges then we’ll learn everything. It’s premature at this point to say, oh well, let’s just let the school board deal with it. No, sir, that’s letting them off too easy. My office brought these charges, and we are prepared to fully prosecute them. Thank you.”
Jack Hogan sat down and everyone took a deep breath. Judge Gantry finally asked, “Anything else?”
The lawyers shook their heads. No.
“All right. I want to sleep on this, and I’ll issue a ruling by noon tomorrow. Court’s adjourned.”
Chapter 26
As Theo and Apr
il were leaving the balcony, a bailiff stopped them at the door and said, “Say, Theo, Judge Gantry wants you to stop by his office.”
Theo was startled. “Okay, when?”
“Right now.”
“Sure.” He said good-bye to April and hurried away, dodging the spectators as they filed out of the main courtroom. Judge Gantry was waiting with his door opened. He closed it when Theo walked in. He removed his black robe, said, “Have a seat,” and pointed to a chair at the conference table. Theo did as he was instructed. Judge Gantry sat down and loosened his tie. He gave Theo a hard look and asked, “What do you think?”
Theo wasn’t sure what the judge wanted so he just shrugged, as if confused.
“You know, Theo, we often make the law too complicated. We take a set of facts and analyze them ten different ways and try to figure out what laws should apply and how and why, when, in reality, a lot of cases are pretty simple. Simple enough for a young person to see clearly, when we try so hard to make them confusing. Does this make sense?”
“I think so.”
“I’d like to know how you would rule in this case, Theo. You’re thirteen years old, a smart kid who knows more law than most lawyers, and also someone who’s sort of involved in this mess. What would you do, after hearing what we’ve just heard?”
Man up, Theo told himself. He’s talking to you like an adult, so act like one. “They’re not criminals, Judge. What they did was really bad. I mean the idea of a bunch of teachers hiding in a room erasing wrong answers and loading up with the correct ones is pretty outrageous. I understand why they did it, but it was still a rotten thing to do. Like Jack Hogan said, they’re supposed to teach us right from wrong.”
“Agreed. It’s disgusting.”
“But they will be punished enough. They’re good people who did something wrong, but what they did was not a crime. I would dismiss the charges, Judge.”
“You like secrets don’t you, Theo?”
“Love ’em.”
“Good. Here’s a secret you can’t talk about until noon tomorrow. I’m dismissing the charges. Right now it’s just between you and me.” He reached out a hand and Theo shook it.
“A secret, right?”
“You got it, Judge.”
The Boones enjoyed dinner with Omar in his café, and when he wasn’t around his parents talked nonstop about the hearing. Mrs. Boone was relieved and relaxed, and Theo congratulated her on a fine performance. Mr. Boone was happy to play second fiddle to his wife, and it was obvious he was very proud.
“You should do more trial work, Mom. You’re very much at home in the courtroom.”
“Thank you, Teddy, but I have enough work to keep me busy.”
“Things could not have gone better, dear,” Mr. Boone said. “You were superb.”
“I’ll feel superb when we win,” she said. Theo bit his tongue. He was often tempted to unload secrets on his parents, but not this time. He was determined to prove he could be trusted. Instead he said, “I watched Judge Gantry a lot, and I think he is with the teachers. Don’t you agree, Dad?”
“No doubt about it. He’ll dismiss the charges and we can move on.”
“Let’s not get too confident,” Mrs. Boone said. “When I’m sure I’ve won, something bad usually happens, and when I know I’ve lost, there is usually a pleasant surprise. It’s a tricky business trying to predict what a judge will do.”
Theo kept a mouth full of food and tried to say as little as possible.
Late that night he called April, and they chatted for almost an hour about the courtroom drama. She had been scared out of her mind when Dr. Stoop read her letter and almost fainted. But now that she was able to look back, she didn’t feel so bad about sending it. The letter had prompted the school officials to take the matter seriously and investigate immediately.
“Aren’t you glad you didn’t send that second letter?” Theo asked. “Otherwise you might have been on the witness stand today.”
“I sure am. Thank you, Theo. I had made up my mind to send it, but you talked me out of it.”
“Always trust your lawyer, April.”
Chapter 27
The Friday morning newspaper had the story on the front page, complete with a great front-page photo of Mr. and Mrs. Boone walking into the courtroom, each holding a thick briefcase and looking like they were ready for business. It was a lawyer’s dream. A long story described the hearing. There were summaries of the testimony and arguments from the lawyers.
Theo read it quickly and hurried off to school. The morning passed slowly.
At three minutes before noon, Judge Gantry posted online a two-page ruling dismissing the criminal charges against the teachers. He said, in part, “While I am disturbed by the actions of the defendants, their behavior did not rise to the level of criminal activity.”
Theo texted congratulations to his parents and went to the cafeteria for lunch.
At two p.m., Dr. Carmen Stoop issued a statement to the press. She announced that the school board had no choice but to terminate the contracts of the five teachers. Two years from now they would be allowed to reapply for teaching positions in the school system.
This surprised no one; but what followed did. Dr. Stoop said that the results from the previous testing would be disregarded at all grade levels. And, furthermore, the Strattenburg School District would no longer participate in the standardized tests required by the state. The district could “opt out” of the testing, but doing so would mean the loss of significant state funding.
In her statement, she said, “This city has always placed a priority on good schools and providing the best education possible for our students. We will continue to do so. This will require a lot of community support and more money from our city council. Frankly, we believe we are in a better position to educate our children than the people at the state level. To do so will take a great effort from all of our citizens.”
Theo read the statement online and couldn’t suppress a smile. No more standardized testing. No more “teaching to the tests.” No more tracking. No more competition for the Honors track. No more special classes for gifted students and